The Tenth Class
by CZRose77
Summary: Rose has a interesting past, one that she had hoped to retire from for good. But one day she received a letter in the mail instructing her to go to a competition that invited others of her particular "skills," and that had a prize that she couldn't refuse. A chance to start over. What seemed like an enjoyable plane ride turned into something that would changer her life. Forever.
1. Unexpected Delays

The Tenth Class

Chapter 1: Unexpected Delays

It was a relatively quiet evening in the mountain areas of the Appalachians. The air was moist and cool, the wild life was going about their normal business. Eventually, there was a faint humming of an airplane in the distance. Not a very big commercial one, just a small one, locally owned. The plane itself wasn't all that interesting as the cargo that was aboard. One young woman, late twenties to early thirties.

This young lady was about 5 foot 9 inches tall, and had a bit of a hefty build to her. Wide shoulders that led way to about a medium sized waist, and a good hip size. She had medium length, dish-water blonde hair that she always wore in a ponytail. She was dressed in her normal blue denim jeans and a plain red t-shirt, with a camo baseball cap topping off her attire.

She sat quietly in her seat in the small airplane, looking out the window at the serene picture of the mountains. In one of the valleys, she thought she saw some wooden buildings, but when she looked again, she couldn't see anything. She sat there for a few minutes when a familiar voice called her name.

"Rose?" a British accent called out. The young woman broke her concentration to turn her head to a small, blue holographic projection of a lean man. "Rose, how much longer do you think we have 'till we get there?"

"I'm sure we have an hour at most left before we get to the airport, Wheatly. You just have to be patient," Rose stated calmly.

"But I'm booored..." the little holograph complained.

"Well, just look out the window at the scenery. That's what I've been doing to pass the time," she reassured him.

"Ugh, I already did that. It didn't help," Wheatly complained even more.

"Well, then I don't know what to tell you friend," Rose said. Wheatly gave a slight sigh.

"Well then, just wake me when we get there. I'm going to power down for a bit," he said.

"Okay, that I can do," Rose confirmed. And with that final comment the little blue hologram disappeared.

Rose went back to looking out the plane window, looking at the mountains as they passed by, enjoying the quietness that was given to her.

Rose didn't get much of that, given her job. She had been working with a few secret organizations for a few years, but got out of that game and became a type of freelancer, work for hire. Before any of this, she was a computer engineer and technician for Aperture Science. But after they tried to steal her work for creating an artificial intelligence unit from scratch and implementing it into another persons mind via neuro-adaptor on the back of one's neck, she left the company to pursue other things in her life. She trained a bit in the martial arts field, teaching herself the basics on self-defense, as well as tinkering with all sorts of mechanical and technological wonders that the rest of the world hasn't even seen yet.

Wheatly was one such creation. She had made him while she still worked for Aperture, and he has been her only companion ever since. Creating him was basically giving birth to another human, since AI's are normally based off of another persons personality. The only problem she saw with that is that AI's like that only have a life span of about seven years, and start to deteriorate after eight. So Rose came up with an idea of making an AI that would last twice as long, if not longer, but doing so means that she would have to create a program that emulate the same principals of giving birth, writing out the different traits that would come with her new AI. And thus, Wheatly was born.

About thirteen minutes passed by when Rose heard something coming towards the plane. She looked out the window some more but couldn't see anything, she could only hear the object coming closer. She grew a tad nervous and decided it was best to get Wheatly online in case something was about to happen.

"Wheatly..." she began, but then was immediately interrupted by a sudden explosion that seemed like it came from the front of the plane.

The plane shook violently due to the explosion and almost knocked Rose out of her seat. After the explosion, the plane took an immediate nose dive to the ground below.

"WHEATLY!" Rose yelled at her AI.

"What! What's going on! All I was doing was taking a nap!" he said innocently.

"The plane's going down! There was an explosion!" she stated.

"OH! Oh my...um, okay what do you want me to do?" Wheatly asked.

"I want you to give me an estimated time to impact, while I head towards the cockpit and check on the damage!" she barked.

"Okay can do! Oi and try to find a parachute along the way, ya? I'm too handsome to die now!" the holographic AI blurted.

Rose smiled for a second while she got up and made her way to the front of the plane. She got up to the door and noticed that it had been a bit smashed up due to the explosion.

"Rose?" she heard Wheatly call out.

"What's the status?" she replied.

"Impact in less that three minutes! We aren't going to have enough time to get out!" he shouted. "You need to find a paracute and get off NOW!"

"Ugh..." she sneered. She wanted to check on the situation in the cockpit, put knew she didn't have enough time. "Fine."  
She turned around and made a climb for the back of the plane. On the way she tried to find herself a parachute, but to no avail.

"T-minus 90 seconds Rose!" Wheatly shouted.

"Ugh!" She growled as she continued to make her way to the back. "No use trying to find a 'chute! I have to brace for impact!"

"WHAT?! Are you sure that's such a great idea?"

"I don't really have much of a choice!" She snapped. Once at the back she took cover between the las two rows of chairs, and waited for the massive impact.

"T-minus 30 seconds!" Wheatly stated.

"We'll get through this..." Rose said calmly.

"I hope for our sakes, you're right..." Wheatly replied. "Here we go! 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2..."

* * *

"Rose..."

Rose could hear a distant voice. She felt like she was just floating in darkness, not able to move her body, if she even had a body.

"Rose..."

There was the voice again. This time it sounded closer; a bit clearer.

"Rose! Rose, wake up! Please, wake up!" the voice said frantically. It was much clearer now. She then began to feel her body wake up from the darkness, as she began to slowly open her eyes.

"Oh...ow, oh man...I feel like I was hit by a train..." she grumbled as she began to move around.

"Oh ho, thank goodness you're alive!" the voice said. It was Wheatly. She lifted her head slightly from the ground and began to look around. She noticed a glitchy holographic projection of Wheatly standing just a few inches from her face.

"Are you okay? How do you feel? On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your pain?" Wheatly asked.

"Ugghh...I would say a solid 20..." Rose said as she began to slowly pick herself up from the ground. "Hmph, oh yeah...definitely a solid 20..."

"Well, at least you're alive! Can't say to much about the pilot, of course, but he was already dead from the explosion anyways, right? Hehehe...uh..."

"And at least you're still the ray of sunshine I remember," Rose teased.

"You better believe it missy!" He pointed and shook his holographic finger at Rose, who was now finally on her feet.

"Did anyone see the crash?" She asked.

"Well, I am detecting some life forms coming in from the northwest of the crash, and coming at an alarming rate I might add. Matter of fact there is one _really_ close by," he informed her.

"Wheatly?! Why didn't you tell me sooner?" she said as she began to frantically look for a hiding spot.

"Well sor-ry for being more concerned for your well-being then about who I on their way here to help out!" he snickered.

"They might not be coming to help," she pointed out.

"We don't know that!" Wheatly said.

"Exactly," Rose retorted as she hid behind some thick foliage. She found a spot where she could see the whole wreck, but no one could spot her right away. "I like to play it safe."

"Psh, fine. Play it your way," Wheatly whined.

"Thanks for your permission, I will," she replied. "Now shush."

As the two became quiet there was a rustling in the bushes to the far left of them. After a second, they stopped, as if someone had either fell silent or climbed out of them. Not even a full five seconds passed buy as a man uncloaked from no where. ' _Cloaking, huh? Better watch out for him,'_ Rose thought to herself. The man was wearing a red suit, that had light gray, vertical lines on it. He also wore a maroon ski mask, so Rose couldn't quite identify any bodily features. A few minutes passed by and a young man jumped from out of the same bushes, sprinting at full speed, pistol ready in hand. He came to a sudden stop right next to the masked man.

The you man was wearing a grayish-black baseball cap, with an ear piece on top of it. He also wore a red t-shirt, almost like Roses, but not as torn up and muddied, and a small backpack that hung from his back. He wore some sort of gray Capri shorts that went just below his knees and some knee-high socks with some running shoes to finish the outfit.

' _Huh, this kid looks like he's going to a baseball game or something,'_ Rose though with a smile.

"What took you so long?" the masked man said.

"I was in the middle of drinking my soda, thank you very much!" the young man retorted. From the sounds of it, the young runner sounded like he was from Boston, and the masked gentleman had a French accent to him.

"Zhat never stopped you before," the Frenchman teased.

"Hey, I don't have to explain myself to you, fancy pants!" the Bostonian said with a bit of frustration in his voice. "Anyways, what da hell is going on here?"

The young man looked towards the massive pile of metal that used to be an airplane.

"It's a plane crash," the masked man stated.

"Well duh, Spy, I figured that much!" the young man said. _'Huh, he just called him "Spy." Is that his name?'_ Rose thought, a bit confused.

"Really? Because it looked like you needed a bit of help," the man named Spy said.

"Alright you two, that's enough bickerin'," a Texan voice said out of no where. Rose looked back at the bush to find about six more men come out to look at the wreckage.

The man that spoke wore a yellow hard hat with goggles around his eyes, as well as overalls with a worker belt around his waist. He was brandishing a shotgun pointed to the ground with a workers glove on his right hand. He also had a symbol of a wrench that showed on his shoulders.

The next fellow that followed behind him was a scholarly looking man, who wore thin, round glasses and a white lab coat with what looked like a white shirt with a red tie underneath. He had a belt around him that was being held by some overall straps. He wore long gray pants that were tucked into some black gray boots. He also held a big gun in his hands, but it didn't look like it shot any bullets. This "gun" was connected to a big mechanism that was strapped to his back, and just like the man before him he had a symbol on his shoulders, but this symbol was a healing symbol signifying that he was a medic of some sort.

After him was a big and burly, bald man, almost twice the size of the gentleman before him. _'Holy crap, that guys is huge,'_ Rose thought as her eyes widened. This giant of a man had a red shirt on, with a black vest on top, that also had a strap with bullets on it on top of that. He too had black pants that were tucked into his boots. The gun he was carrying was a massive mini-gun that was about as big as he was. On his shoulders was a symbol of a fist.

"What are baby men crying about now," the giant man said, with a deep Russian accent.

"None of ya business, big guy!" the young man retorted. The larger gentleman burrowed his brow as if he was about to charge the younger man.

"That's enough, maggots!" shouted a husky voice. Rose looked to see whose voice that belonged to, and it was a man who looked as if he was a soldier of some sort. The only problem with that was that Rose didn't recognize what branch of any military. He wore a metal helmet loosely on his head and had a sash on his chest that held two grenades. All of that was on a red over-coat. He also wore black pants that tucked into the boots he wore. The weapon in particular was what caught Rose a bit off guard; it was a hulking rocket launcher that he had resting on his right shoulder. And, just as the other three before him, he had a symbol on his shoulders, and this one looked like a rocket.

 _'Hmmm, these guys just get more and more weird..."_ Rose thought to herself. After the soldier had passed by to join the rest of the group, there were two more guys that followed to join. One was in a fire-retardant suit (also in red), who had a black gas-mask on his head. On his chest he had three cans of what Rose assumed were some sort of fire-starting grenades. He also carried a giant flame thrower with a gas tank on his back. His symbol on his shoulders was a flame. Unlike the others, this one ran straight over to the wreckage and admired the dancing flames that engulfed it.

"Oi! What 'appened 'ere!" shouted a Scottish voice. Rose looked toward the last man, where the voice came from. This man was a black man, who looked to be a bit tipsy. Rose could tell this because he kept tripping over his own feet from time to time. He wore a black beanie and had an eye-patch over his left eye and carried what looked to be a grenade launcher in one hand and a bottle of some alcohol in the other. He wore what looked like to be somewhat of a bomb suit that had red grenades on straps that came over his shoulders, which also showed a symbol of a spiked bomb.

"Well, your drinking obviously made a whole plane crash, Demoman," the French spy said mockingly. The demoman looked at the bottle he was holding with a wide eye, believing what the masked man had said.

"Your drinking didn't cause the plane to crash Demo," the Texan reassured him. "Spy's just messin' with ya."

A calming look came across the demoman's face, then he looked towards the spy with contempt in his eye.

"If I wasn' drunk, I'd kick ye right in the * hiccups * arse," the Scottsman said, slurring his words and taking a step forward. But before the French spy could say anything, the demoman fell flat on his face. Everyone just looked at him, not even batting an eyelash to wake him up. _'Yup, a weird bunch indeed,'_ Rose thought to herself, amused at what was going on.

"Well, now zhat zhat is taken care of, where is zhe bushman?" the Frenchman asked. _'Wait, there's one more? How many of these guys are there?'_ Rose thought.

"Oh, Sniper?" the Texan responded. "You know him, he likes to keep his distance."

"Hmph, typical," the spy said with contempt in his voice. "Anyways, it didn't seem like there were any survivors from this crash."

"Ya, it seems that way doesn't it," the Texan said.

"Hey! I found the pilot! I think..." yelled out a Boston accent. "And I found some extra luggage of some sort!" The men made their way to the right of the crash where the young man went to; well, everyone except the drunk and the one Rose assumed to be a pyromaniac.

"Hmm, well don't that beat all," a Texan voice called out.

"Zhere was probably another passenger," the Frenchman retorted, "but I don't see a body anywhere."

"They probably survived," the Texan said.

"Zhat vould be very unlikely, Engineer," a German accent stated. "A crash of zhis magnitude would surely cause any passengers on board to die instantly from zhe crash."

"Well then, smart guy, where's the other body?" the Bostonian asked curtly.

"Hmm, I vould say somevhere inside that flaming rubble," the German said.

"Well, guess we'll have to put out the fire to find out, huh fellas?" the Texan said.

"Mmmphmm!" an angry muffled voice sounded. Rose looked to see that the muffled voice came from the pyromaniac. _'Great, a mute,'_ she though.

"Well, I guess we could leave it 'til morning. The fire doesn't seem to be too significant to cause any damage to the trees or anythin'," the Texan stated.

"Alright men! Back to base! And no stragglers this time, maggots," the soldier demanded.

With all the commotion behind them, the big, burly Russian grabbed the demoman by the back of his collar and started to drag him along while they all walked back the way they came, with the Scottsman still sound asleep.

* * *

"Are they finally gone?" Wheatly asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Rose answered.

"Oh, thank goodness," Wheatly said. Rose stayed put for a bit longer, though. Wheatly noticed this and found it rather odd since all the men left.

"Why aren't you moving?" he asked.

"They have a sniper out there," she answered.

"Huh? What do you...ooohh," he said, realizing what the Texan and the Frenchman had said. "Well, when do you think the coast will be clear?" Rose didn't move or say anything. "Rose?"

"It should be fine now, but just in case, Wheatly, I need you to be able to do a quick heat sig scan to see if the same people are near by," Rose instruced.

"Yes ma'am!" Wheatly said. He then went quiet for about a minute and then finally came back. "Okay! So apart from the normal wildlife, there are no human forms within about a good mile!"

"Good!" Rose said as she slowly got up. As she straitened out, a sudden pain shot through the upper-front pf her torso. "Ungh!" she grunted as she bent over in pain.

"Rose! Are you okay?" Wheatly asked urgently.

"Yeah, I...I'm fine," she tried to reassure him.

"No...no you're not. My scans indicate a broken rib on the left side of your torso. Rose, we need to get you some medical help. That fellow with the German accent seemed like a doctor..." he began to suggest.

"No! We have no idea who those men were. Did you see their weapons?" Rose interrupted.

"But Rose..." Wheatly began again.

"NO! I don't want to risk anything, Wheatly!" Rose said, raising her voice. Wheatly went quiet, and for a moment they were both quiet. Then Rose proposed an idea.

"But...if he is some sort of doctor, then that means he has a medical office, right?" she stated.

"Yeah..." Wheatly responded slowly.

"And if he has a medical office, then he might have something that could help until we get to an actual hospital. One where there are no men with giant guns," Rose pointed out.

"Hmm, I guess that could work," Wheatly said. "Okay then, lets go!"

"That's the spirit! Now, which way did they go?" Rose asked.

"Um..." Wheatly began, "I think they went northwest through those bushes."

"Alright, can you detect any type of structures nearby?"

"Hmm, there is a facility about 1.5 miles northwest from here."

"Good. We need to start moving. It's starting to get dark out."

"What's this 'we' thing? You're the one with the legs remember?" Wheatly teased.

"Oh shut up, you know what I meant," Rose snapped, jokingly.

And with that, Rose made her way to the bushes the eight men came through, picked up her small backpack that survived the crash and headed towards the facility Wheatly had mentioned, leaving the flaming pile of metal rubble behind. She made a good pace, and was able to reach the outer part of the facility. _'Hmm, I should probably get to higher ground so I can get a better view of what I'm getting myself into,'_ Rose thought to herself. Wheatly kept relatively quiet while she made her way up the back of a cliff that overlooked the facility. When she got near the top, she got on her hands and knees, slowly crawling to the edge, then she poked her head over the edge. What she saw almost took her breath away as she overlooked the massive facility that lied below. As she looked around, her eyes came across a light flicker on the other side where there was another cliff overlooking the facility. Rose froze, holding her breath as she realized what it was.

"Rose? Rose, what's wrong?" Wheatly asked, noticing h Rose's strange behavior.

"Sniper," Rose said curtly.


	2. First Impressions

The Tenth Class

Chapter 2: First Impressions

It was becoming evening with light gray clouds moving in overhead. Rose kept completely still as she saw a shimmer of a light that could have been the flash of a sniper's scope. After a moment of complete stillness, she slowly started to move her left arm to her backpack that she took off when she climbed the hill to the top of the cliff.

"Rose? What are you doing? If that is a sniper, he's gonna shoot you if you move!" Wheatly frantically whispered to her.

"If he hasn't shot me yet, then he's waiting for something," Rose said calmly.

"Like what?!" Wheatly said frantically again.

"I don't know. It's not like I'm a freaking mind reader, Wheatly," Rose said.

"Oh, fair 'nough," Wheatly said.

When Wheatly didn't add anymore to his sentence, Rose continued to slowly move her arm to her bag. Once there, she undid the strap and felt around for what she was looking for. After a few seconds, her hand came across what felt like a pair of binoculars.

"Oh thank goodness they survived the crash," she said with relief.

"What did?" Wheatly asked.

"My binoculars," she answered as she slowly pulled them out of her bag, not taking her eyes off where she saw the shimmer.

She slowly brought the binoculars up to her face and looked through them at the spot she saw the shimmer, and focused them on the site. As she thought, there was a sniper looking directly at her, sitting behind a rock that covered most of his body from sight and the barrel of his gun pointed and ready to fire.

What she made out was that he was a lean man, with a bit of a grizzled face. He wore a hat that looked like it was from Australia, along with brown aviator sunglasses that covered his eyes. He had a bit of a five o'clock shadow and wore a brown vest that was over a red shirt. Rose could barely make out the insignia that he had on his left arm (the only one she could see) and it appeared to look like cross hairs from a scope.

For a moment all the two did was look at each other, not moving, lightly breathing. Then, to break the stillness and to really see if the sniper was really watching her, she pulled her right hand away from her binoculars and lightly waved her hand to him. Much to her surprise, and chagrin, he moved his left hand from holding the front of his rifle, and did a light wave back.

"Well, crap. He really is watching," she said with a bit of worry to her voice.

"Really? What gave you that idea?" Wheatly said sarcastically.

"Shut up," Rose responded curtly. She then decided what she should do next, and after a short moment, she moved her right hand again, but this time she formed it to where she pointed her thumb to her back and motioned her hand, signifying that she was going to move back the way she came. The sniper grinned lightly, and lightly shook his head up and down, giving her permission to move.

She saw his reaction, not bothering to question his decision, and pulled her binoculars down from her face. She then started to crawl backwards down the hill and once she knew she was out of sight, she started to get up as she moved down the hill.

"Wait, did he just let you go?" Wheatly said, sounding a bit relieved.

"Yup, I guess he did," Rose responded.

"Well, see! I told you they might be good guys!" Wheatly said, trying to prove the point he made earlier.

"Hmmm, no I think that sniper just gave us a warning," she said.

"Oh, what? C'mon, you can't still be thinking these guys are bad?"

"I don't know what they are, but I know something big is happening her."

"Why do you say that?" Wheatly asked. Rose kept moving down the hill.

"Because that facility was HUGE," she said with a huff as jumped over a log.

"So? They can be doing something small too, ya know," Wheatly said.

"No...something else is going on here," Rose said as she got to the bottom of the hill. "And I'm going to find out what."

"And how do you know that? And how are you even going to find out?" Wheatly asked, almost opposing her plan.

"Well, for starters, there is always something going on if you have a guy appearing from thin air, and people calling him 'Spy'," she began, starting to head in the opposite direction that the came from.

"So? What if he..."

"AND, why would you have nine men guarding a facility this big? Some of them holding massive weapons?" She continued, as she kept moving, her rib not hurting as much. "Plus, we still need to get in there to find something to heal me enough to get out of these mountains."

"Ugh," Wheatly huffed. "Fine. So what if your right? How do even propose getting in to that place without being spotted?"

"Well, for starters, we are going to the place that sniper was," Rose began to explain.

"What? Are you crazy?! You even said it yourself, if wanted to kill us, he certainly could've!" Wheatly panicked. "And what are ya going to do if he's still there, hmm? You are in no shape to fight."

"Wheatly, you know we've been in worse situations than this," Rose said reassuringly.

"Even so...I just don't want you to get hurt even more," the AI said concerning.

"Hey, I'll be alright. I mean, how hard is it going to be, really?" she said.

"Well, you sure seem confident about this."

"You gotta be, buddy. Besides, that sniper probably isn't even there anymore."

"What makes you say that?" Wheatly asked, a bit skeptical.

"It's getting dark, for starters. And he didn't look like he had any night time gear on or around him. So that means he would have to go and get them," Rose explained as she continued to make her way to where she saw the sniper, laying low in case someone might still be out in the woods.

"If that is the case, then what do you expect to do when you get there?" Wheatly asked.

"Well, I'm going to get a better understanding of that facility so I know where to go when I get in there," she answered.

"Okay, and what exactly do you want me to do?" the AI asked, wanting to be a bit useful.

"I need you to be my extra pair of eyes and tell me if there are any people that could make their way towards us," Rose instructed.

"Then in that case, I'll keep thermals up in case someone does manage to find their way out here in the dark," Wheatly said. "Speaking of which, do you have anything in that pack of yours that can help you see in the dark?"

"Well," Rose started as she stopped moving and reached into her pack. "If I remember correctly I think I brought some NV goggles, in case of emergencies." Rose then pulled out a black pair of goggles, looked at them and was relieved to see that they weren't damaged in the crash.

"Oh, well, good to see you didn't listen to my advice about not bring them due to it being just a waste of space," Wheatly said, sounding like he was hurt about being ignored.

"Aw, don't feel bad, Wheatly. Sometimes I just listen to my instincts more than you," Rose said, trying to lighten the mood with a bit of a joke.

"Oh, okay then," Wheatly said disappointed.

"Hey c'mon now, I was only kidding. You are the best thing I have ever invented. And don't you forget that," Rose said reassuringly.

"Hm, I won't," the AI said a bit happier this time.

"Good! Now, it's time to focus," Rose said as they neared the spot where they first encountered the sniper.

Rose knelt down behind a large tree trunk that laid just below the hill where the sniper was, and put on her NV goggles. Once on, she switched them on and began to look around, not seeing anyone near-by. Once she knew she was alone, Rose turned her attention to the hill, and looking up, didn't see any signs of anyone being there.

"Well, the goggles seem to be doing good," Rose finally said, keeping her voice down in case someone might hear her. "Wheatly, any signs of heat signs of people?" A moment of silence passed, then Wheatly finally responded.

"Not that I can see," he said. "You might actually be right about the sniper leaving, Rose."

"Yeah, but I want to be sure," Rose said quietly.

With that, she started to make her way up the hill as quietly as possible, hoping that the sniper had actually left. As she continued to make her way up the hill, her right knee landed on a thick twig, and the twig gave a loud 'SNAP!' Rose froze, breathing and all, eyes widened and heart pumping, all while she kept her eyes on the horizon of the hill. Nothing happened. She didn't see anyone come from the top of the hill, and after a long moment, she then continued to move up the hill.

Once she was almost at the top, she broke her gaze to the top and looked around for something that she could use to defend herself with in case things got too messy. She found a good sized stick that was thick enough to do some damage if used correctly, grabbed it, and slowly stood up to a crouch. She moved as lightly as possible to the top, and once there, she froze. He was gone. There was no sign that he had even been there in the first place except for an indent in the dirt right next to the rock that showed where he had been kneeling.

"Well that's a relief," Wheatly blurted out, breaking the silence, and almost making Rose jump.

"Wheatly!" Rose snapped in a whisper.

"What? He obviously isn't here anymore, like ya said. And I don't detect anyone's thermals coming for us," Wheatly stated.

"Ugh," Rose sighed, "Just next time, try not to be so loud when you blurt something out."

"Okay, geez. Didn't realize you were so easy to scare, Miss Jumpy-pants," Wheatly teased.

"Oh hush, you know I was concentrating," Rose said, defending herself.

"Uh-huh, that's what they all say," he said, still teasing.

"Alright, that's enough. Now that we know that the sniper isn't here, we should look over this facility," Rose instructed, trying to keep her AI on track.

"Okay, I'll stop teasing," Wheatly said.

"Thank you. Now, we need to get a good layout of this facility," Rose said.

Rose looked over the giant rock and analyzed the her best route through this facility. What she saw first was a tall concrete building to the back of the facility to her right that had 'MANN CO.' in giant gray letters.

"Mann Co.?" Rose muttered.

"What was that?" Wheatly asked.

"Oh, uh, apparently this facility belongs to Mann Co.," she replied.

"Huh. I think I've heard of them," Wheatly said. "Hold on while I dig around my memory banks for some info."

While she waited, Rose continued to survey the facility. Apart from the giant eye-sore of a building, Rose noticed many smaller wooden buildings scattered throughout the area. She also noticed that the whole area seemed to be a type of lumber yard she guessed. Judging by the direction the sun went down, she figured the front of the facility faced the west, and that's where she saw two large wooden barriers. ' _Well, I'm certainly not getting in through there,'_ she thought to herself. From what she saw, though, Rose figured out a way to get down to the facility by making her way down to red-ish, wooden building that connected directly with a lower hill that was below her current location. _'Hmm, that might just work. Then I could just follow that path from that building that heads directly to the giant concrete building,'_ she planned.

"Wheatly, did you find anything?" Rose asked, breaking the silence.

"Huh? Oh yeah! But just a bit," the AI responded.

"Well, what _did_ you find?" Rose asked again.

"I found out that Mann Co. is a typical gun-runner company, run by an Australian that goes by the name Saxton Hale," he started.

"Huh. That name sounds familiar. Anything else?"

"Just their slogan: _'We sell products and get in fights.'_ And that's about it," Wheatly finished.

"What? That sounds...oh! Now I know where I've heard that name! He runs the company with the ridiculous fighting rules and everything. Remember?" Rose pointed out.

"Really? That seems a bit...extreme, doesn't it?" Wheatly said.

"Yeah, I know, but he's one of those guys that has enough money to do whatever the hell he wants, and doesn't care who it effects," Rose said.

"Well, okay then. And this facility belongs to him?" the AI asked, a bit nervous now.

"I guess so. Anyways, I figured a way in. Ready to go?" she said, starting to stand.

"Well, considering that I'm just a chip in the back of your head, I can't really say no, can I?" Wheatly said sarcastically.

"Of course you can. I'm just going to ignore it and go anyways," Rose said with a smirk.

"Yeah, I thought so. Well, let's go...but take it easy. My physical scan shows that you can't really handle straining yourself," Wheatly warned.

"Yes _dad,_ " she teased. And with that, she moved back down the hill.

Once down, she made her way to the left, back the way they came, but once she came to the edge of the hill, she once again made her way down. It took her about 17 minutes until she came to a thin metal fence that kept her from the red, wooden building.

"Well, that's great. What now?" Wheatly whined.

"Hmm, let me see what I have in my pack," Rose said, while she pulled off her backpack. She rummaged around inside until her hand cam across something cold and metal feeling. "Ah, there it is!" she said as she pulled out a multi-tool from her bag.

"Seriously? You're going to cut through the fence...with that?" Wheatly said unimpressed.

"Well frankly, yes. This fence seems to lack any type of thickness to keep intruders out," Rose pointed out.

"Oh yeah? What about the barbed wire on top?" Wheatly asked, trying to disprove her.

"Just for show," she said curtly.

Wheatly didn't bother responding. When he didn't, Rose continued with what she was going to do, and began to cut through certain kinks in the fence that would allow a big enough hole for her to squeeze through. She was actually bluffing when she said that the fence wasn't sturdy enough, because she didn't actually think cutting through them with a multi-tool would work. But much to her surprise, she mad the first cut and it didn't give her any trouble.

After about seven minutes cutting, she made a hole big enough to fit through. She put her multi-tool back in her sack and then proceeded through the whole. She jumped down onto a concrete floor and took a brief look around. To her right was a set of stairs going to another wooden building, and to her left (a little further away) there was a doorway leading into the red wooden building. After thinking for a few seconds, Rose darted to the right up the stairs and into the other wooden building. When she entered she looked right and noticed a giant doorway that exposed here a great deal. Rose froze, waiting to see if anyone came by and when no one did, she looked around calmly for some cover, and directly in front of her was a smaller doorway, much like the one she came through next to a window that was out of sight from the giant doorway. She then ducked behind the wall, and out of sight.

"What are you doing?!" Wheatly whispered frantically.

"Just a bit of a change of plans," she said reassuringly.

"Why?" Wheatly asked, still unsure of her angle.

"Well," Rose began, trying to keep her voice down, "if we go this way, it'll allow us to get closer to the tall concrete building, that, keep in mind, might have medical supplies."

"How do we even know there is actual medical supplies in there?" Wheatly pushed.

"Well, we won't know until we find out," Rose said crouching down behind a wall and putting her hand up to the left side of her torso where the broken rib was. With all of this strenuous exercise, the pain wasn't keeping her from moving and she kept fighting it back so she could focus on other things. But, of course, that's what she's used to.

She remembered all the jobs after Aperture, the missions with all those secret organizations, all those dangerous contracts that put her through more and more hazardous situations. This wasn't anything new, but she did wish she didn't have to go through it anymore. That's why she was actually looking forward to this contest. It was supposed to give her a chance to start over. Have a new life, with a clean slate. She wasn't proud of her past, the things she did, even if she had to do them to survive. Rose knew she couldn't forget her past, her old memories; but she had a chance to make new ones, with a family even.

"Rose?" Wheatly called, breaking Rose's concentration.

"Huh? What's wrong?" she responded softly, remember where they were currently.

"Nothing yet. You just looked like you were lost in your thoughts again. Are you...are you okay?" the AI asked her concerned.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm just fine. Let's get this done so we can get out of here," Rose said as she began to stand slowly. "Okay, Wheatly, what do your scans say?"

"Hmm, lemme see," he began as Rose poked her head over the edge of the window to get a look at what she might be running into. "There is a sentry over to the left. Looks like its fully automatic with rocket launchers..." Rose looked to the left and noticed the sentry passed a pile of boxes and next to a door. "There also seems to be two beings just past the door, and about five more further in the building, scattered."

"That only gives me seven. Where are the other two?" Rose asked, remembering that there were nine men total.

"Hmmm, oh the other two are closer to the front of the compound," Wheatly confirmed. "They seem to just be relaxing."

"Okay..." Rose said as she continued looking around for a way inside. Her eyes continued on to the right, and found a direct path; from the door to her right, she could go across a small wooden bridge onto a concrete platform, down some concrete stairs, and hug the wall under the windows that along the walls. "I have a plan, but I need you to be completely quiet so we don't get noticed."

"What are you talking about? I'm always quiet!" Wheatly said, sounding accused.

"Oh yeah? Now, remind me, how loud were you when we were on the cliff?" Rose said.

"I was...now I didn't mean...oh fine. You're right," Wheatly huffed, defeated.

"That's what I thought. Now let's go," Rose said, giving one finally push.

Rose moved slowly to the door to her right and poked out to make sure nothing changed; everything seemed clear. She looked towards the sentry that was passed the stack of three boxes and saw that she was out of sight. Rose smiled and continued to move slowly along the wooden bridge, not taking her eyes off of where the sentry was. She made it to the concrete platform and continued until she made it to the wall. Once there, she looked at the sentry and was barely able to make out the back of the sentry. Keeping that in mind, Rose hugged the wall and started to make her way slowly towards the door.

As she slowly crouched, hugging the wall to avoid being seen from the windows, Rose contemplated on how she was going to get passed the sentry without being detected. She looked down, trying to find something to throw, and she saw an empty beer bottle lying near one of the crates. She kept moving, but Wheatly whispered and startled her, almost making her lose her balance.

"Rose..." the AI whispered.

"Geez!" Rose snapped, almost falling forward. "What the hell, Wheatly?!"

"Sorry, sorry, I just wanted to inform you that there is another door just past this corner. So there are two doors," he informed her.

"Oh, okay good. That saves me the trouble to try and figure out a way passed those two guards past the other doors," Rose said with relief.

"You're welcome," Wheatly said.

The AI became quiet again and Rose continued to make her way forward. When she was close enough, she darted next to the creates of boxes and picked up the empty beer bottle that lied next to them. As she picked it up, she looked up at the set of windows that were in between the two metal doors, and saw two of the men walk up right to them. Recognizing them to be the one with the hard-hat and the other with the ski mask, Rose's heart skipped a beat, realizing she was in plain view.

She froze for a moment again, noticing that they were just talking and not looking out the window. After that moment passed, Rose relaxed and quickly figured she could be out of sight behind the creates, so in a flash she darted backwards behind the create she was next to, put of sight of both the window to her left and the sentry to her right.

"Talk about a rock and a hard place, am I right?" Wheatly jokingly whispered to her.

"Yeah...this is definitely not going to be easy," Rose whispered back. "Are they still there?"

"Lemme check thermals...no, they went back to the right of us, it's all clear," Wheatly quietly informed her.

"Good, now let's hope this works," Rose said as she moved next to the creates again, still out of sight of the sentry.

Rose figured she had about ten to thirteen seconds after she threw the bottle until the sentry would turn around and focus on her. All she could hope for is that the metal door wasn't too heavy to lift. She got into a running stance, but still crouched, her rib hurting a bit as she stood.

"Okay Wheatly, get ready to tell me if there will be anyone coming my way when I get through this," Rose informed her AI.

"Don't worry, I've got your back," Wheatly responded.

"Okay...three...two...one..." Rose then threw the bottle over the creates and bolted to the door.

Behind her she could hear the sentry make a loud double-beeping noise, hoping that it wasn't locking onto her as she made it to the door. Once near she heard a bottle shattering and not two seconds later the double-beeping again. Rose panicked as she got to the door, only to be relieved that the door automatically opened as she approached. She slid in at the tinniest opening over to the closest cover to her left which was just enough space to give her cover from both the sentry outside and the two men inside on the other side. After she made it through, the metal door closed immediately, sheltering her even more from the sentry.

"What was zhat," Rose heard a French voice say.

"Hm, was probably nothin'," a Texan voice replied. "Pro'lly just a bird again."

"But it went off twice," the French voice said again. "We should go look just in case. Zhere was a plane crash not too long ago, remember?"

"Yeah, I guess yer right," the Texan voice agreed. Rose poked her head around the left corner to see the two men make their way out the door. As soon as they were out of sight, Rose analyzed her surroundings quickly. A little ways in front of her, but to the left, was a set of double doors that were wide oped and that led into a dimly lit hallway. Guessing that there was no one else near by, Rose made a quick dash to the doorway, and as soon she passed through she leaned up against the wall to her immediate left, and crouched to one knee.

"See, I told ya there wasn't anythin' there, Spy," a Texan voice said as a metal door opened.

"Hmm, you may be right," a French voice replied. "But where'd that broken glass come from?"

"Pro'lly just Scout and Demo tryin' to see how far the other can through their beer bottles. They are standin' out near the front, and Scout's got one helluva throw," the Texan proposed.

"Hmm, I suppose. Anyways, where were we?" the Frenchman said, wanting to pick up where the two left off.

Knowing that she was in the clear, Rose relaxed a bit and took a deep, quiet breath. As she did, though, her rib started to hurt more as her adrenaline wore off. _'I gotta keep moving,'_ Rose thought. She slowly stood to crouch and started to make her way down the hallway slowly, keeping her ears and eyes open for anyone near by. As she slowly made her way down, she noticed that it wasn't that long of a hallway, and that further down to her right there was another set of double doors, but these ones were closed.

"Wheatly, do you think that there is a medical bay through those doors down there?" Rose whispered to her AI.

"Hmm, I can check..." Wheatly replied quietly as he trailed off. "Yes! Yes, it's a medical bay! I finally got a lay-out of the place now that we are inside!"

"That's great..." Rose said with a sigh of relief.

"The best part is no one is inside," Wheatly informed her.

"Nice," she said.

Rose continued to make her way down the hallway to the set of double doors. Once there, she opened them slightly to see if there was anything there that could give her some immediate relief from her pain. Not seeing anyone around, she noticed a few things that surprised her.

To her far left was a surgery bed, with all the normal tools and equipment one would need for a surgery. That was normal; what caught her attention was the giant device that loomed over the bed. At the bottom of this device was a tube filled with some red substance that Rose had never seen before. It was emitting some red beam from it as well. It was attached to all sorts of wires and what not that Rose thought that it was just thrown together haphazardly. The other thing that caught her attention was the weird amount of white doves that housed in this medical bay.

Rose stood up and slowly walked into the room, cautiously, and made her way over the device. The doves just watched her move, some not even caring that she was here. When she was close, the red beam that emanated around the opening of the tube whisked over to her body.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa man. What is this?" Rose said surprised.

"I'm...I'm not sure," Wheatly responded. "It's messing with my scans, but whatever it is it's healing you!"

"Yeah it is!" Rose said, feeling all the exhaustion leaving her body, the pain in her ribs fleeing. She felt re-energized and ready to get the hell out of there. It only took a short moment for Rose to feel like she could do anything again

"Well, looks like you're all healed up!" Wheatly said.

"Good! Now let's get the hell out of here," Rose said as she was readying to turn around.

"Wait, Rose!" Wheatly began to warn, but it was too late. Out of no where, there was a massive hit to the back of Rose's head, causing a sharp pain and instantly knocking the young woman out cold. She fell to the floor, and as her vision dimmed out, the last thing she saw was a black boot stepping in front of her, and hearing the low chuckle of a sinister laugh.

 **Hey everyone! Something I forgot to mention in the last chapter is that I will be posting chapters to this story every two weeks on a Friday. I couldn't do it this Friday because I had family visiting, but hopefully I will be able to post up new chapters every two weeks. Why so long, you ask? Because School, and work, and well, life in general. That and I don't want to push myself too much. So here is the second chapter and the third will be posted in two weeks (from this past Friday)!**


	3. Intruder

The Tenth Class

Chapter 3: Intruder

Rose began to slowly awaken to a bright light shining in her face. As she grew more conscious, she became aware of a pounding headache in the back of her head so severe that the light showing in front of her made the pain even worse. She tried to move fer hand in front of the light to block it off, but realized that it was strapped down. A little panicked now, Rose began to shift the rest of her body, coming to full realization that she was strapped down. She looked to her left and noticed that she was still in the medical bay, strapped down to the surgical bed. _'Oh no,'_ she thought to herself. Rose then shifted her gaze to the right of her and out of no where a man jumped to the right side of her bed as she turned her head.

"Holy nuts!" Rose yelled, startled.

"Ah, so you are avake!" the man said with a smile. Rose recognized his accent to be the German she saw at the site of the plane crash. "Good! I didn't van't to do anyzhing until you vere avake so I could see your expressions!"

"Wait, do what? And what in the hell did you hit me with? A brick?" Rose questioned the German.

"Oh, vhy yes! Had to make sure you vouldn't struggle while I prepped you for surgery!" the German said, sounding excited.

 _'Crap...'_ Rose thought to herself. She quickly examined him while she tried to quickly figure out a way out of her predicament. He wasn't wearing the lab coat that he wore when she saw him at the plane crash site. Instead, he was wearing a type of vest shirt that was a tint of red with a red tie. His sleeves were rolled up signifying that he was actually going to perform surgery.

"Soo...um, what kind of surgery are we talking about, exactly?" Rose asked with a timid voice.

"Oh just going to do some experiments zhat I've been wanting to try for some time. But I can't tell you everything because it's a surprise!" the German said with wide eyes of fascination. Before Rose could say anything a white dove with a few blood splatters landed on her chest, cooing.

"Archimedes, no! Get off her chest, it's filthy!" the doctor said as he shooed away the bird.

"Pet of yours, I assume?" Rose said.

"Ah yes, he is one of my favorites!" the doctor said.

"And does he always help with surgeries?" Rose continued, as she bought time to look for an escape.

"Oh yes, for some reason he enjoys jumping into people's chest cavities when I am not looking," he said as he turned around to grab his shinny surgical table, and then turned back around to put it to the right of Rose, next to the bedside.

"Now, stay here for just a moment. I have to grab a few zhings before we begin," the doctor said.

"Well, I'm obviously in no position to argue, now am I?" Rose responded sarcastically.

"Zhat's zhe spirit!" he said happily.

As he turned to walk over to his medical supply cabinet, Rose noticed a black switch-blade knife open and sitting on the little surgical table. Without thought or question, Rose immediately began to grab for it, moving and contorting her hand to be able to grab the table that was just out of her reach. It was right next to knee, and her fingertips could barely touch the edge. Trying to be as quiet as possible, she tried to shimmy down through her restraints. After a second of struggling, she was finally able to grab the table. In doing so, however, it made a small squeak as she pulled it towards her. Rose froze, looking at the German to see if he had noticed. Luckily for her, he was too concentrated on what he was doing to notice the sound, so she slowly kept moving the table until she could reach the switch-blade knife.

When the felt the familiar feeling of a cold steel blade reach her hand she grabbed the knife and started to saw away at her restraints. Luckily it was a thin type of leather material that restrained her, so it wouldn't take her long to cut through, but she had to act quick. Half way through her cutting the first strap that restrained her arms, she heard the doctor speak up.

"Just one more moment, herr frau! I'm almost ready to start zhe procedure! Oh ho, I cannot vait!" the doctor said with excitement.

Rose had to move it along. She began to saw quicker and within a matter of seconds she was all the way through. Quietly, she removed the strap, freed her arms, and began to untie the strap that restrained her chest. After a quick moment, she freed her whole upper body, and began to work on the strap on her legs. Looking over to see if the doctor had noticed, she saw him finishing up on gathering the remainder of his equipment. She looked back to her legs as she finished untying the strap, turned to her right to get off the table, and with the knife still in her right hand, quietly, but quickly, made her way over to the doctor.

"Now, zhis vill only sting..." the German began as he turned around, but was instantly cut off when he was pushed up against the cabinet and a knife was put to his throat.

For a brief moment, neither one of them said anything due to the doctor being taken off guard and Rose contemplating on her next move.

"Look," Rose finally said, "I don't want to kill you. All I was here for was to get healed, and be on my way to find out who shot my plane down." The doctor's expression went from surprised to a calm look. She looked through his round glasses, into his eyes, and for some reason, mercy flooded her mind. Rose continued, "So here's what I'm going to do. I am going to bring the knife down, back away, and you're not going to do anything because if you do, I can guarantee you, you will die. I just want to leave. Understood?" The doctor nodded, his face giving a more serious look. "Good."

With that, Rose started to bring the knife down from his throat, still keeping him pinned against the cabinet. Then she began to slowly walk backwards, still facing him and making sure she didn't take her eyes off of him.

"Oh, and I'm keeping the knife," she pointed out. The German just gave a light smile, his facial expression now more relaxed.

Rose then turned to try and find her bag, which was on other side of the surgical bed, picked it up and went towards the door. Before she opened it, however, she turned to make sure the doctor was not following her. To her surprise, he wasn't; he was just leaning up against the medical cabinet with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Rose made eye-contact and smiled slightly, signifying her success and slipped out the door.

Once out, Rose quickly looked both ways down the hallway, and seeing that she was clear on both ends, she made her way left of the doors and down the hallway. Slowly, while crouching, she looked for a type of janitors closet of sorts she could slip into and make sure Wheatly was still with her. As she kept going, she could hear distant voices of men laughing and talking. Rose looked behind her a few times, making sure that the German doctor wasn't following her, and each time she felt relieved that he wasn't. _'I think he enjoys his job just a bit too much,'_ Rose thought to herself.

She was nearing the end of the hallway, and a few feet from the doorway was another door on her right side, with a label above it marked cleaning supplies. _'Yes!'_ Rose thought, _'No I can check on Wheatly. I'm sure he'll be pretty rattled after that nice hit on my head.'_ Quickly moving to the door, she grabbed the door-nob, and slowly began to turn it. Much to her happiness, the door was unlocked, so she quickly opened the door and bolted inside. When she closed the door behind her, the room was completely dark. Rose reached out to each side of the doorway to find the light-switch, found it to her right, and flipped it on.

Inside the cleaning closet, there was a yellow mop bucket, but no mop in sight, as well as metal shelves filled with nothing but empty cleaning bottles and dirty rags. "What kind of cleaning supply room is this?" Rose asked herself out loud. She quickly shook the thought off though, and focused on her main objective: checking on Wheatly. Rose pulled her backpack off her back and set it on the floor and sat down. The first thing she checked on was if he was actually still with her and that that crazy German doctor didn't pull him out. She felt the back of her neck where her neuro-adaptor was, and was incredibly relived that the spot where where had Wheatly's chip was still had his chip there. Next to the AI slot, she pressed a small button, which was kind of a reset button in case she was knocked out and Wheatly went off-line. There was a small, short beep, and then a moment of silence before Rose finally heard his voice.

"Oi, what in the world happened! I feel like I was just floating in space, with some annoying bloke screaming _'SPAAAAAACE!'_ " Wheatly said with a huff of exhaustion.

"Well, I got hit in the back of the head by that German doctor we saw at the plane crash. I think he was planning on making me his next experimental cadaver," Rose said with a smirk. Wheatly popped up in his holographic form, with an expression on his face that almost made Rose burst into a roaring laugh. But instead she just giggled.

"Are you serious?" Wheatly asked, a bit skeptic.

"Ah-hm, yes. Your expression was just a little to funny for me," Rose said clearing her throat, and trying to put on a serious face.

"Well, in any case, we should probably get out of here now," Wheatly said crossing his arms, and putting his head down to think.

"Well, are there any exits near-by that lead outside, with minimal resistance?" Rose asked.

"No, not unless you want to go back the way we came. Oh wait! I take that back! There seems to be...an exit through a sewer grate about two levels lower from our current position," Wheatly informed.

"Did you scan the area so we can have a map to go by?" Rose asked, pulling her backpack towards her.

"Why yes, I certainly did!" the AI said, with accomplishment to his voice.

"Good, so when I get out the door, left or right?" Rose asked.

"Oh, you will have to make a right, continue down the rest of the corridor and head down a flight of stairs that lead to the next lower level," Wheatly said as he brought up a three dimensional holographic map of the compound. "Then you will head down this corridor, take the first right, all the way down that corridor, down this flight of stairs, and at the bottom of the stairs, there will be a manhole you can go through to get to the sewers, and out to a lake."

"Oh good, and I thought this might be easy," Rose said with a smirk.

"Well, you'll have to do that without getting spotted by the seven guys scattered throughout the path," Wheatly added.

"And there's the hard part I love so much," she said sarcastically.

At this point Rose had completely emptied out her bag and was pleased with what the contents held; there were her binoculars that she used earlier, along with the night vision goggles she used as well. To top those off, she also had a collapsible shock baton, a tazer, a can full of pepper spray, and one her very own personalized weapons: it was a pair of butterfly swords that were built in a very technical way. What Rose did was she started on a project to build a set of swords that would have a special ability to them, which for these ones, meant having a switch on the handles right at the hilt that would allow them to go from regular iron blades to electrical blades, then to blades that were covered in fire. It took her to get the compartment where the charges for such things would occur, but in short, with a flick of a switch she could deal about three different types of damage at any moments notice. What she also wanted to add onto them was a compartment housing a type of acid that, when activated, would coat the blades in a thin enough layer to do some real damage. Unfortunately, she couldn't find a metal that would be a good conductor that could withstand acid, so she scrapped the idea. Right now these blades were her favorite toys, but they hadn't been exactly field tested yet, and Wheatly made sure to make that apparent.

"Ah I see you brought your new favorite toys! That haven't been field tested! And that could possibly blow up!" he mentioned with fake, sarcastic enthusiasm.

"Yes I know, but like I always say, there's no better to field test than in the field," Rose pointed out.

"Well, that being said, I'm sure that nice doctor would be more than happy to patch you up once those things explode in your hands," Wheatly said, crossing his arms.

"Oh come on, we've run plenty of tests on these things! You even said they were ready for some field testing anyways!" Rose said.

"That doesn't mean out somewhere where we have no idea how these men would react and why they are even here!" the AI argued. "I would at least suggest that you use the baton and wait to use those until we get back home."

"And when do you think that would be, hm?" Rose snapped, putting all the things back in her bag except the baton.

"Well, um...you know, when we get there," Wheatly stuttered.

"Yeah, exactly. And another thing..." Rose began, but then immediately grew quiet when the door-nob began to jiggle and the door opened to three men; the masked Frenchman, the Texan, and the Bostonian.

Rose froze, wide-eyed, and the same with the three men standing at the door. Wheatly stood there as well, a bit surprised and was actually the first one to say something.

"Rose, run."

She did not hesitate to argue because not even a second after he said that she was already half way out the door. She bolted to the right, like Wheatly had instructed earlier, and jumped down the stairs. Behind her she could hear the Frenchman call out "After her!" and that's when her heart really began to pound. She made it down the stairwell and began down the hallway, and heard footsteps behind her, but one set faster than the other. She turned her head to see that it was the Bostonian boy that was catching up to her.

"Rose, lookout!" Wheatly yelled, catching her attention. In front of her was the drunk Scottsman she saw at the plane crash looking at her with a bit of confusion.

"Demo, catch her!" the Bostonian yelled out. The Scottsman, shook his head of the confusion and a look of determination came across his face as he stretched his arms out wide to catch Rose as she kept running without stop. Not even thinking twice, Rose sped up and right before she could run into the man with the other young man right behind her, she got into a sliding stance and was able to slide right underneath his legs. Once passed she immediately got back into running and looked behind her. When she did, she saw the Scottsman turn to her in even more confusion than before, but before he could do anything the other young man ran right into him, not being able to put on the brakes probably due to the fact that he too was caught off guard by Rose's sliding past his teammate. Rose turned her head back with a smile and continued to run the coarse that her and Wheatly had discussed, pleased that she bought herself some time.

Rose began to approach the hallway that was coming up on her right and started to turn when she suddenly into what seemed to be a fleshy wall, that, with enough force from her running, knocked her back. She stumbled back a few steps and then finally lost her balance and fell on the floor. She sat there for a moment, a bit dazed and confused as to what she ran into. When Rose looked up to see what it was, she realized that it wasn't a what, but a who; it turned out to be the big heavy weapons guy she saw at the plane crash. He was much bigger than she remembered, with a terrifying stone cold scowl on his face staring right at her. Realizing her mistake, she quickly began to push herself away from the giant man. Noticing that she was trying to escape, the giant outstretched his arms to try and grab her, but Rose then stood up and was about to bolt the other direction when she realized that the Bostonian and the Scottsman that had crashed onto each other had gotten up, with the masked Frenchman and Texan behind them, completely blocking her escape.

Rose came to a quick stop, and was ready to quickly reach into her bag to grab her swords, but it was too late. The giant that was behind her, wrapped his arms around her, pulled her towards him and lifted her off the ground to make sure she didn't run away this time.

"Oh dear...we're in for it now," Wheatly whispered.

"Shhh," Rose quickly hushed.

Now they were all looking at her, some with a tad bit of anger on their faces, some with confusion. Rose tried for a quick struggle to see if she could get free of the giant man's arms, but to no avail. She stopped squirming and huffed a sigh of defeat, but her mind was still figuring a way out.

"Ya mind telling us what you're doin' here, missy?" the Texan asked first.

"Yeah, what's the big deal, lady?" the Bostonian chimed in. Rose took a deep breath.

"Well, for starters, I'm the only survivor from that plane crash you all saw," Rose began to explain. A look of surprise came to everyone's face, except for the Frenchman's; he kept a calm face the whole time.

"Zhat still doesn't explain to us why you are here," he said as he pulled out a small and slim silver case from inside of his stripped suit, pulled a cigarette out of that, and lit it.

"I'm getting to that. You see, I had a few scrapes and bruises and maybe a broken rib or two so I had to find some medical help," Rose continued. At that time she looked past the four men in front of her and noticed the German Doctor quickly making his was down the stairs at the end of the hallway.

"So after I awoke from the crash, I heard someone coming, so I hid in the bushes. Then you guys came to look at the crash," Rose said.

"Why didn't you just come out and ask for help?" the Texan asked.

"Well, I didn't know who you guys were, and frankly, a bunch of men with guns and rocket launchers are kind of intimidating on first impressions," Rose said.

"Oh, yeah, good point there," he said.

"That and I didn't know if you guys were good guys or bad guys," she contiued.

"We're neither," the Frenchman said, puffing out cigarette smoke. "We're mercenaries."

"My point exactly," Rose went on, "So after you guys left the crash site, I followed in the direction you guys left in and came across this facility. Figuring that there was some sort of medical supplies in here to help me out until I came across an actual hospital, I snuck my way in, and actually made all the way to _his_ medical office," she gestured to the doctor, who was now standing behind everyone. They all looked at him, some with scolding looks, others with still confusion on their faces.

"When I went in, there was this type of healing gun, or well, at least what I assume to be a healing gun because when I walked up to it, all my scrapes, bruises, and broken ribs were all healed, and I felt completely re-energized. Then before I could do anything, he knocked me out with a brick," Rose said, as she gestured to the doctor again.

"Is this true, doc?" the Texan asked.

"Oh yes, it is quite true!" the doctor said with a smile.

"When I finally awoke," Rose continued, "I was strapped down to his surgery bed."

"Yes, I was finally going to be able to perform some of zhose experiments I was ranting about, but zhat none of you were villing to participate in," he explained.

"Ya, 'cause their friggin' nuts! There's no way I'd let you do that to me!" the Bostonian yelled.

"Alright Scout, calm down. No need to get all in'a huff again," the Texan said, trying to calm the young man down. He just crossed his arms in a huff. "Now, what are we gonna do with you?" he said turning to Rose, who was still being held by the giant man.

"Um, let me go?" Rose said with a sheepish smile.

"May I suggest giving her back to zhe good doctor?" the Frenchman said

"Oh, zhat vould me most wunderbar!" the German exclaimed with a giant grin.

Before the Texan could object, a loud deep horn of a sort sounded and practically shook the ground on which they stood. All the men became very quiet and serious at the sound. The giant man holding Rose loosened his grip just a tad, much to her surprise. But before she could move a muscle, she heard footsteps running above them towards the stairs. Then she saw a thin man running down the stairs, and she recognized him instantly; it was the sniper that let her go back on the cliff.

"Hey, that wanker Grey Mann is here with all 'em bloody robots!" the sniper said.

"We heard," the giant man finally spoke.

"Wait, what's going on?" Rose asked, just a tad bit confused as to what was the big deal. When she said that, the sniper looked at her a bit surprised.

"Weren't you the sheela that I saw up on the ridge?" he asked her. All the others looked at him immediately. "What?"

"You mean to tell me zhat you saw her outside the base, and you didn't bother to say anything?" the Frenchman said.

"I thought she was just some lost bird looker that strayed to far this way! I didn't think she'd be dumb enough to actually come in 'ere!" the sniper said, trying to defend himself.

"You idiotic bushman, you compromised zhis whole..." the Frenchman started.

"Enough!" the Texan yelled. "Look we'll deal with her as soon as we deal with Grey, okay? That is, if we can."

"Ya, we almost got smoked last time," the Bostonian said, lowering his head. They all became a little quiet and almost all of them had a look of shame on them.

"Okay look," Rose began. "I have no idea what's going on, but it seems to me like you guys need help with what ever it is, and I'd be willing to help. But in order for me to do so I would like to stay in one peace, with all my insides intact." she said aiming her sight at the doctor.

"And why would we trust you?" the Frenchman asked.

"Well for starters, with the exception of one of you, I infiltrated your base undetected and accomplished my goal in doing so. Not to mention I do have a unique set of skill that would be quite beneficial to you in winning what ever fight you are about to have," she pointed out.

"And what skills might zhose be, if I may ask?" he asked.

"Well, I have an AI implanted in the back of my neck that could give us planned strategic abilities that I'm sure this _Grey Mann_ can't come up with, since he decided to announce his presence so pronounceable. The rest you'll just have to wait and see on," she answered.

"Preposterous," the masked man scoffed.

"Um, no. Not really," Wheatly said, popping up in his holographic projection.

"Fascinating!" the German said with wonderment.

"Wheatly, how many enemies will these men be encountering?" she asked her friend.

"Well, let me see...I would go out on a limb and say, oh around 243 robots, 4 giant ones, and 2 tanks," he said. The men just stared in amazement.

"Okay, and what do believe the best course of action would be in the best amount of time?" she continued to ask.

"I was hoping you would ask. You sir, the one with the hard hat. Do these men have some weapons that deal with energy output?" Wheatly asked the Texan.

"Um, well yeah, but just a few..." he started to reply.

"Good enough. Rose, if we can tamper with those energy output weapons, we can maximize the output they do to basically cause a massive EMP charge to short circuit all of those bots, including the tanks in there, causing the three bombs in the carrier above to explode before the bots even have a chance to step out." Wheatly explained. "This should take us around and hour and seven minutes, maybe sooner if this engineer has the right tools for the job. That should be just enough time before those bots are released in two hours."

"Well, of course I have the right tools," the Texan said, feeling insulted. "And how do you know they will start to attack in two hours?"

"I'm scanning the carrier, and there is an internal clock, with an alarm that'll go off, letting them know when to come attack," the AI answered. All the men just stared in amazement and confusion, and the giant man let Rose go, her dropping to the floor.

"So I take that is a ' _yes you can help_?'" Rose asked. They just looked at each other.

"Well, I don't see why not missy," the Texan said with a smile.

"But after we get done, you have some questions to answer," the masked man said.

"Fair enough. Let's get moving," Rose said.

 **Hey guys, sorry for the long delay. Between school, Fallout 4 and Thanksgiving break, the story kind of got away from me for a bit. But don't worry! I will be going back on schedule this week, hopefully putting up the next chapter this Friday, and then back to two weeks for uploads. So don't expect chapter 4 to be too long. Hope you guys enjoy, and again, sorry for the delay!**


	4. Bonding Time

The Tenth Class

Chapter 4: Bonding Time

"I WILL NOT GIVE THAT EVIL WOMAN MY WEAPONS TO EXPRIEMENT ON!" the soldier yelled at the Texan engineer. "Who knows what evil voodoo hippie magic she will entrance on my American made, Liberty fueled, weapons of mass justice!"

"C'mon now, Soldier. You know she ain't gonna do nothin' like that to your Mangler," the Texan assured him. "We need the Cow Mangler 3000 as well as Pyro's Phlogistinator to take down Gray's robots this time. You know as well as I do that we barely made it by the skin of our teeth last time." The grizzled American was quiet for a moment, and looked down to the floor.

"Would it make you feel any better if we were going to amp it up to make a HUGE explosion, and make Grey and his robots run away with their tails between their legs?" Rose chimed in, hoping the thought of explosions might persuade him to help. He looked up at her, and at first his expression was a stone cold frown, but after a moment of thinking, in warmed up to a mild grin.

"And we are going to make them think twice about trying to take us down, right," the old war dog asked.

"You better believe it pal," the Texan said.

"And we are going to make them pay in the burning brimstone of sweet American glory?"

"It will be blinding glory," Rose said. The soldier smile grew even wider.

"Alright. I give you permission to use my weapon, but only for sweet American justice!" he finally agreed.

"We wouldn't have it any other way, partner," the engineer said.

With that, the American gave him his energy-powered rocket launcher, saluted him, and marched away. Rose watched as he did, grinning. ' _This has to be the weirdest bunch of mercenaries I have ever met,'_ she thought to herself.

"Ready to go get Pyro's now," the Texan said, breaking Rose's thougts.

"Huh? Oh yeah! Let's go, the sooner the better," she said. He nodded and led the way.

A few moments passed as they made their way through the lower part of the facility, and Rose couldn't help but ask the Texan a few questions since they were alone without any distractions at the moment.

"So, since I might be here for a bit, can a get your name?" Rose asked, breaking the silence.

"Hmm, I think that that's a question for a later time, miss," he replied.

"So what do I call you then?" she continued.

"For now, you can just call me Engineer, or Engie for short. Everyone else does," he said.

"Is that what you do here? You the engineer of your group?" Rose asked, even more curious.

"Yeah, you could say that. I build things, I fix things."

"Oh so were you the one that built that sentry gun at the entrance of this building?"

"How did you..." he began, then realized what she said earlier about sneaking into the facility. "heh, yup. That pretty heavy caliber, rocket enhanced, quadrant-pod mounted number was designed and built by me," he began to gloat.

"Now that is really impressive!" Rose said with excitement. "What else have you made?"

"Oh a number of things. Matter o'fact, if you decide to stay a while, I can show you some of my gadgets. That is, of course, if y'all are interested," he said with his Texan twang.

"Oh Rose, I think that would be an enlightening idea!" Wheatly finally spoke.

"I agree, Wheatly!" Rose agreed.

"Speakin' of inventin', where'd you come up with that little fella?" he asked.

"I was wondering when you'd ask," Rose said. "It was a few years back when I worked for a growing science company, that ran a bunch of human testing for their gadgets to sell to the public. I was working on building an AI from scratch, basically giving birth to a personality all it's own, and I came up with Wheatly."

"Well ain't that somethin'. Now, I remember you sayin' that he was connected to the back of yer neck?" Engineer asked, clearly fascinated.

"Indeed. You see, after I made Wheatly, the rest of the scientists grew a bit curious as to how I made him, and some even resorted to stealing my plans. To no avail of course, but I needed a way to keep him, and my data safe. So I came up with the idea of a neurological adapter that I had surgically implanted in the back of my neck that would connect directly to my cerebellum at first, and over a short amount of time the circuitry would spread through-out my brain, allowing Wheatly access to basically everything."

"Wouldn't that be dangerous though? Having another person inside yer noggin?" he asked, a bit concerned.

"It took us both a while to adjust, but it was definitely manageable," Rose reassured. "He now helps me with a multitude of things, from keeping an eye on my vitals to walking me through different scenarios and courses of action when I'm in a fire fight."

"Well ain't that somethin'," Engineer said with amazement. "What happens if someone tries to pull 'im outta ya?"

"I though of a solution to that too. You see, Wheatly basically resides in a small microchip. The adapter has a slot specifically designed to house an AI chip of any kind. So if I needed to, I just have to press a button right next to the slot, and I can eject him, just like ejecting a disk from a computer."

"You thought of everything, didn't ya?" he said with a chuckle.

"Well, I hope so," Rose said.

"Any other fancy gadgets of yers that I should know about?"

"Well, I do have these two Butterfly swords that deal electrical and flame damadge in my bag that are in need of field testing, but I want to save them for a special occasion," Rose said with a grin. Engineer looked at her with a smile, and chuckled.

"Well, don't hold out on me for to long there, missy. After hearling that story, I am curious to see what you have in store."

"Don't worry, I won't keep any secrets," Rose said. They both chuckled, and grew quiet, still making their way to Pyro. After a moment of silence it was Engineer's turn to ask some questions.

"So, if ya don't mind me askin', what happened at the science place after all the surgery and stuff?" he asked.

"I don't mind. I ended up leaving not soon after because the head CEO wanted the data I had on all my experiments, and would almost stop at nothing to procure them. Kept using the excuse that it was built with _his_ technology." Rose began to explain.

"Well, wasn't it though?"

"Nope. See, I worked on most of it at home, and brought my own things to continue working on everything while working there. It was my own little hobby," she answered. "But he didn't see it that way. Neither did most of the other scientists. They wanted to profit on it, and not care on the outcome it might have had on the test subjects, like most of their useless junk. So I was told either hand over all the data on everything I had been working on, or get fired. So the next day I left, without a word. It took them a while to actually notice that I left too."

"Why do ya say that?"

"Because I didn't hear anything from them for about a year and a half, until one day I received a letter, say that I stole their property, and that government officials were sent to procure it all."

"What did you do?" Engineer asked, tone a but softer now, and they began walking slower.

"I did the only thing I could do. I went into hiding. Moved around a lot. Learned how to take contractor jobs here and there. After about six years of moving, I was contacted by a government official from a secret organization. Me thinking they were from my old job, I immediately became defensive. Almost broke out into fighting, until he finally told my that my old workplace was shut down and that the CEO had passed away. He told me he was also there for a different reason." She paused.

"And what was that?" They were both stopped now, Engineer obviously fascinated.

"He offered me a new life," Rose said. Before she could elaborate, they heard a mumbled shout. They both turned to see the man Rose recognized as the one with the fire-retardant suit that was mesmerized by the fire at the plane crash. He was waving at the two enthusiastically as they continued to make their way towards him.

"Howdy Pyro!" Engineer said as they came together. "Hey listen, do you still have that Phlogistinator you got a while back with Soldier's stuff?"

"Mmmhmm," Pyro mumbles as he nods his head.

"Good! Can you go fetch it for us? Me and this lady here are goin' to soup it up to deal some real damage against Grey and his bucket o'bolts," Engineer said with a grin.

"Hmm mmhm hmmm!" he mummbled.

"Thanks partner!" then Texan thanked. Then the pyromaniac took off to go get his weapon. "So..." Engineer continued, "what didja mean 'a new life?'"

"Oh, well, like I said, I had been a contract for hire. I didn't really make many friends during my time in hiding," Rose answered. "But I think that's all I'm comfortable sharing."

"It's okay, I understand," he said, putting his hand on her shoulder and smiled softley.

"Thank you," she said.

"You know, Engineer, you are pretty much the only person Rose has actually told any of this to," Wheatly finally said. He popped up in his holographic form and turned to Engineer.

"Yeah, but it actually felt good. It was like, I was lifting a rock on my chest that had been there for a while," Rose confessed.

"Well, I'm glad I could help lil' miss," the Texan said, and tipped his hard hat to her.

"By the way, are all of you guys just called by a specific class? Like Pyro or Soldier?" Rose asked.

"Oh yeah. I mean some of use do have actual names, but to keep it professional we prefer to be called by our class," Engineer replied.

"So what are all the classes then?" Rose continued to ask.

"Well, you already know me, Soldier, and Pyro. Medic was the first you met..."

"Yeah he was a bit out there for a doctor."

"Hehe well he ain't no ordinary doc either. Anyways, there's Spy, Scout, and Demoman; those I assume you had the pleasure of meetin'," Rose nodded with a smile, "Oh and that big fella holdin' you off the ground? That's Heavy, short for heavy weapons guy. Finally there's Sniper, which, by the sounds of it, you already met at a distance."

"Uh, hehe, yeah...I'm surprised he didn't shoot me when he saw me," Rose said with a nervous laugh.

"Yeah, I'm a lil' confused on that part, too," Engineer said, rubbing his chin. "Did he fire a warnin' shot or anythin'?"

"Nope. I pulled a pair of binoculars from my bag and saw him across the way, sitting behind a rock. I waved at him, and smiled and waved back," Rose recalled.

"Hmm, guess we'll have to ask him once we're done with Grey and the bots," Engineer said.

"Yeah, what's the deal with all this?" Rose asked.

"I think that's an explanation left for after the fight," Engineer said with a smile.

"Fair enough," Rose said.

As she said that, Pyro came around the corner with his weapon. Rose was kind of taken off guard by the way it looked, it and the rocket launcher looking like space guns, but dismissed the thought immediately as the Pyro approached.

"Hey, good work Pyro! Thanks partner," the Texan thanked.

"Mmmhm hmmmhmm!" the pyromaniac mumbled.

With both energized weapons in hand, Rose and Engineer walked away to his workshop that was located a floor above the one they were currently on, which was the third level. As they continued, Rose kept having all the scenes from earlier in the evening, and all the people she had met. A smile came across her face as she thought about everything, something the Texan noticed.

"What are you smilin' about?" he asked.

"Oh, just my experiences so far with you guys and how colorful all of you are for a bunch of mercenaries," she responded.

"Hehe, yup. But in a professional way, we're kinda like a family, if ya think about it," the Texan said with a gentle smile.

"Hm, well that's good to know," Rose said.

"Why's that?" he turned and asked.

"Because that means you guys can always rely on each other," she said.

They continued to walk the rest of the way in silence, both contemplating the situation ahead of them, but also thinking about their own conversation. Rose smiled once more, believing that she actually made a friend with Engineer, and maybe she might be able to do that with the whole team, in time. For now, they had a battle to get ready for.


	5. Things That Go Boom

**Hey guys! Super sorry about the long wait. I was going to post this right before Christmas, but a dog that I was house-sitting chewed up my cord, so I had to wait to get a new one b/c I didn't have enough money until now. But it's finally up, and hopefully I'll be able to keep up with the whole upload every two weeks schedule, so expect Ch 6 two weeks from today. Anyways, hope you enjoy! :3**

The Tenth Class

Chapter 5: Things That Go Boom

"Okay, let's hurry and get these puppies movin'," Engineer said as Rose and him set the weapons down on the work bench. "We don't have much time left if we still wanna get those two in position before Gray launches them bots at us."

Right. Just in case though, we should have a back-up plan in case we don't get done in time," Rose stated.

"What's yer idea?" the Texan asked.

"Hmmm," Rose thought for a moment and remembered the sentry she came across when she first went into the base. "How many of those sentries can you make?"

"Well, as many as we need, but there's a problem," Engineer said, as he began to pick at the energized rocket launcher.

"What's that?" Rose asked with a curious look on her face.

"Well, ya see, Gray has a special design for his bots," he started. "He pretty much designed them based on us and our skills, to try and beat us. But there is one bot in particular that he designed to take down my sentry guns."

"Hmmm, how does he know when you have them up?" Rose asked, trying to figure a solution.

"Well, we aren't entirely sure yet," he replied. "I assume they have some kind of sensor in that giant metal carrier that let's 'em know, but without further examination, we can't really tell."

"Well, looks like that should be a mission objective," Wheatly chimed in.

"I agree, partner. But every time we defeat the last wave of bots, the carrier is already on the move and too far away for us to catch the darn thing," Engineer explained.

"I would say that we could go check it out this time, if we weren't already planning on blowing it up first," Rose said wistfully. "Maybe we might be able to pull something from the wreckage."

"That we might, missy," the Texan agreed.

After their discussion, Rose and Engineer continued to work together on the Cow Mangler 3000 and the Phlogistinator to boost their energy output, and be able to take out the big, blue carrier housing waves upon waves of robots. Minute by minute they worked hard, keeping an eye on the time, and Wheatly continuing to give them updates and tips.

After a while, Rose felt a sense of peace coming over her. Something that she hadn't felt in quite a while. She stopped what she was working on for a moment and looked over at Engineer, who had his backed turned to her while he was working on the Mangler at his workbench. _'Maybe this could work,'_ she thought to herself. She smiled at the thought but was then interrupted from her comforting thought.

"Umm, Rose? Don't you think you should finish?" Wheatly had said.

"Huh?" Rose looked at him, then looked down a the Phlogistinator. " Oh yeah! I'm almost done here. I just need to cross a few more wires then I'm finished."

"Good because we are running out of time," Wheatly warned. "If we don't finish now, we won't have enough time to get the Soldier and the Pyromancer into position before the first wave hits."

"Don't you worry about that, partner," Engineer interrupted. "'Cause I'm just about done here."

"Very well then. Rose what about you?" Wheatly asked.

"I'm pretty sure I just told you where I was at just a few seconds ago, Wheatly," Rose responded with a snicker.

"I know that, I was just wondering what progress you made," he said, popping up in holographic view, crossing his arms.

"Oh my gosh, I told you I was almost done. Keep your digital pants on."

"You know very well that I can't physically wear pants, Rose," Wheatly said, clearly annoyed.

"Well duh, I was just teasing you," she said as she crossed the last to wires together. "And look. I'm done. Happy?"

"I will be when this is over," Wheatly said, disappearing.

"I agree with the little man, now lets go find everyone else," Engineer said. And with that, the two made their way out of Engineer's workshop to gather the team.

* * *

They only had a few minutes before Grey released his multiple waves of robots on the compound, so they had to act fast. All nine mercenaries, Rose and Wheatly were gathered in the room where Rose first snuck into the compound.

"Alrighty guys," Engineer began, "We have the weapons upgrades to were they won't just cause a massive EMP to the carrier, but cause all the circuits in that dag'um metal death trap to short out in a way that causes a massive explosion." Soldier and Demoman smiled at this.

"But in case something doesn't go right, we need to have defenses set up just in case," Rose chimed in. The mercs looked at her, some of them scowling at her, some with confused looks.

"Okay fellas, I know we don't know her too well, but let me assure you, this here lady knows her stuff," Engineer reassured. "If she didn't, well, we wouldn't have this plan in the place."

There was a moment of silence between the men as they looked at each other, unsure whether or not to trust the person who infiltrated their base. However, after the moment passed, they all heard a deep voice break the silence.

"So what is this 'plan'," the deep voice said. Everyone turned to look at Heavy, who was just looking at Rose, waiting for the plan to be explained.

"Well," Rose began with a smile, "The original plan will have Pyro and Soldier up at the top of the hill closest to the carrier to the south of us. Luckily, that thing is plane sight, so hitting it won't be a problem." Everyone seemed to be following along now.

"In case something happens, like guns jamming or we don't make it up there in time, we need to have a line of defense. Now Engineer has told me about these machines and how they mainly have a set path. Now depending on that path is how we'll set up main defenses, but for now we will need cover fire from the building over looking the entrances, as well as some sentries set up for back up fire power. Pyro and Soldier, wait on shooting the carrier until I give the signal. We want to make sure we are all set up in case something happens.

"In terms of front line defenses, Engineer has also told me about your individual skills. We will still have Pyro and Soldier up on the hill, Demoman will take center in the little field with me and Wheatly, while Spy and Scout handle left flank and Medic and Heavy handle right. Engineer will have sentries posted on both the left and right flanks on edges of the building, while Sniper runs back up on either side when he's needed. Medic will also give assistance to those who need it but since Heavy might get shot the most, we'll need him there. Any questions?"

All the mercenaries just look at her in amazement and confusion. _'Oh crap, was I too demanding?'_ Rose thought to herself worryingly. Engineer was standing next to her with a big smile on his face, trying to stifle his laugh, and the only one who spoke up was Spy.

"And how are we supposed to trust you? You did infiltrate our base, after all," he said with a calm complexion.

"Let me remind you, sir, that she only came her for medical attention, and did not mean to cause any harm!" Wheatly said, coming to Rose's defense. "Not to mention, she probably making this easier on you all by stepping in when she doesn't even have to!"

"Wheatly, calm down. It's okay," she said to the annoyed AI. "Look, you don't have any reason _to_ trust me, and frankly I don't have to give one. The simple matter of fact is that there is a giant metal carrier with thousands of murderous robots that you guys need to take care of, and for right now, I'm just here for the ride." All the mercs were still quiet and Spy looked down to the floor. "Now if anyone else has any questions..." Soldier raised his hand.

"Yes Soldier?" Engineer asked.

"Can we keep her?" Soldier asked. Rose gave out a slight giggle.

"Um, well, that's really up to her," Engineer replied awkwardly.

"Ma'am, will you stay and command our forces like a true commander, and keep these filthy maggots in line?!" Soldier asked Rose directly.

"Hey, who you callin' filthy, pal?" Scout responded angrily. "Do you even smell yourself right now?"

"Watch your mouth, maggot! Or it's going to be making out with my boot!" Soldier threatened.

"Hey hey guys! Focus!" Rose exclaimed. "Look, me staying will depend on whether or not we make it through this incursion. Plus, I'm sure some of your teammates don't feel the same way about me as you do Soldier."

"Well they should!" Soldier proclaimed. "I'm an excellent judge of character."

"Be that as it may, we still have a fight to win, so if we're all done being buddy buddy, we might want to move out now," Wheatly chimed in.

"Right. Let's go fellas!" Engineer said, picking up a red toolbox. Everyone else cheered and made their way out the door. Rose let everyone else out first, and was about to leave when she noticed Spy still lingering. They held eye-contact for a moment before he broke the silence.

"I'll be watching you..." he said menacingly, and then disappeared. Rose waited for a moment, then heard one of the doors open and close.

"Well, isn't he a charming fellow," Wheatly said shortly after.

"Yeah, but I'm sure he has his reasons," Rose said.

"Regardless, you'd think he'd be a bit more grateful for us saving his life with this plan and what-not," he said in annoyance.

"Like I said, I'm sure he has his reasons," Rose said again, while she pulled out her butterfly swords. She looked at Wheatly and smiled. "Ready?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Wheatly sneered.

"With you? Always."

And they were off to follow up with the mercenaries, who were currently taking their positions.

* * *

Rose caught up to the rest of the team as they all took their positions. She looked to her right up the hill and saw that Soldier and Pyro were on the hill. They looked at her and gave a nod, which she nodded back to. She continued to make her way to the small field and heard the beeping of Engineer's sentries and the cocking of Sniper's gun. She saw Medic and Heavy in their positions, Demoman waiting for her, and Spy and Scout causally waiting for the fighting to begin.

She got into position next to Demoman, and gave herself a moment to get into the fighting mindset. She then looked up to Soldier and Pyro who were waiting for her signal, and raised her right arm high in the air.

"Alright, we have one minute before they launch the first wave," Wheatly said. Pyro and Soldier began charging their weapons. "Remind me again, why do we have to wait for their launch?"

"Because the carrier is basically turned off, and when it boots up to let the bots out is when we need to overcharge their sequence," Rose reminded him.

"Oh yeah...bullocks," he said. Rose kept her up, until the two mercs gave a nod when their weapons were charged.

"What's the count down at?" Rose asked.

"Twenty seconds," Wheatly responded.

"Count down at ten."

"Right." A few more seconds passed then out of no where, a husky woman's voice came over some speakers.

"The Robots are almost here!" she yelled.

"Who the hell..." Rose started, losing focus.

"Ten," Wheatly and the lady started to count down. _'Crap, focus...'_ Rose thought.

"Nine..." Rose raised her arm as high as she could, keeping watch on the two mercs, and them waiting on the signal.

"Eight...Seven...Six...Five," Rose thrusted her arm downwards, giving the signal for Soldier and Pyro to fire their weapons. They saw the signal and both mercenaries fired a shot of energy that was so strong, it shook the ground ever so slightly and knocked to two mercenaries back on their backs.

"Four...three...two...one..." the boot up sequence started in the metal carrier just as the two shots hit the side of it, causing a massive black out, followed by a giant red explosion of energy from the carrier.

Everyone shielded their eyes as the explosion lit up the night sky. The light was followed my many smaller explosions that caused the ground to shake even more, knocking some of the mercs off their balance. Everything was then followed by one massive explosion that knocked everyone back about six to ten feet.

After the explosions had died down, and things began to become calm, everyone started to stand up and look in awe t of the explosion that was caused. Rose stood up, dusted herself off, and looked up to see a giant fire in place of where the metal carrier used to be moments before. Rose just gazed at the destruction, smiling and feeling a sense of accomplishment while the men around her cheered with joy. Her gaze soon left the glorious site of destruction and landed on Spy, who was leaning up against a rock, pulling out a cigarette from what looked like a cigarette holder. She decided to walk up and gain his opinion on the situation.

"Hey," she began as she got close.

"Zhis does not change anything," Spy quickly stated.

"Change what, exactly?" she asked.

"My views on you and what you decide to do now. Frankly, I'd prefer it if you just left zhe same way you came in," he said curtly.

"I didn't expect it to change your views on me," Rose began to explain. "I expected this to ensure you guys didn't have to exert yourselves in a pointless battle."

"Hmph," Spy huffed out a cloud of smoke. But before Rose could continue, she was suddenly picked up around the waist and hoisted onto Heavy's right shoulder.

"Hahaha I like dis one!" He shouted as he turned around to face the rest of the mercenaries who were still cheering for their victory. Rose turned her head to see Spy, but he was no where to be found. _'Hm, guess I should get used to that,'_ Rose thought, with a tad bit of resentment.

"Rose! We did it!" Wheatly exclaimed, appearing in his holographic form jumping up and down. "I can't believe that worked!"

"Well of course it worked, silly," Rose said with a warm smile, "you thought of it."

"Yeah, well, we couldn't of done it without these mercenaries," Wheatly said, pointing to everyone.

"True enough, Wheatly," Rose said. "True enough."

The men continued to walk towards the inside of the compound, Rose still sitting atop Heavy's shoulder, and all of them excited of the events that had just transpired. For now, the threat of any robot invasion was no longer lingering, and everyone could rest easy.

* * *

After an hour or two of celebration the men and Rose had all gathered in what she could easily say was their game room. It was dimly lit and there was a pool table, and poker table, and a television stet up with an old gaming system and a pinball machine. All the men were sitting around the poker table, with the exception of Spy and Sniper who decided to stand in the back in the shadows. Rose and Engineer were standing at one end, with Engineer explaining what Rose had told him about herself. Rose and Wheatly gave confirmation to everything he explained, as well as added a few things.

"And so when I woke up from the crash, Wheatly did a bio-scan of me to asses whatever injuries I had, and we both agreed that it was my best shot to make it here for medical assistance," Rose said as she finished explaining the plane crash. All of the men sat quietly looking at her, some in surprise, others not so surprised.

'Vell, vhy didn't you just come in and ask for medical assistance," Medic finally asked. "I probably vouldn't have knocked you unconscious. Probably."

"Well, like I stated earlier, I didn't know if you guys were all hostile or not. And when I saw a sniper out and about, it's not like I was just going to waltz in and ask," Rose explained glancing at sniper.

"Well, regardless of how you got here, I'm just glad you did, miss," Engineer spoke up. "I think I speak fer most of us here when I say your help was invaluable."

"Glad I could be of assistance," Rose thanked with a smile. "Now I now this might seem a little odd, but do you guys think I could stay just a bit longer? Just to figure out what happened with the plane crash?"

"Well, I'm not going to object," Engineer said. "What about the rest of ya fellas?" The others shook their heads in agreement. All except for Spy and Sniper.

"Well then it's settled," the Texan said with a big grin.

"Yes it is," and unfamiliar female voice said. Rose and Engineer looked behind them to see the person behind the voice. It was a thin lady with black hair that was tied back in a messy bun, who wore black rimmed glasses, a purple button-up shirt with a matching skirt and black heels. She had green eyes and was holding a clip board. She also had a very serious look on her face, almost as if they had done something wrong.

"Oh hey Ms. Pauling," Scout said, trying to act cool. "Fancy meetin' you here!"

"Hello Scout," she said, not taking her eyes off of Rose.

"Um, hi..." Rose said uncomfortably.

"Hello. As you can already tell, I am Ms. Pauling," Pauling began. "And I do believe you are tresspassing."

"Well I am fully aware of that, and I didn't mean to cause any harm," Rose stated, becoming defensive.

"I'm sure," Pauling responded. "Can you come with me please?"

"Uh, Ms. Pauling, Rose here helped us take care of Grey n' his bots without us really having to do much fightin'," Engineer said.

"I know Engie. But I still need Ms. Rose to come with me," Pauling said without changing her expression.

"But Ms. Pauling..." the Texan began to object.

"It's okay, Engineer," Rose stopped him. "I'll go with her."

"Hm, okay..." he said, hesitating.

Rose then began to walk out of the room with Ms. Pauling, down a long corridor, then down a flight of stairs. Once down, they walked to an elevator with a keypad, Pauling punched in a few numbers and the elevator opened up. They walked inside, she pushed the SUB LVL A button and the elevator started moving. For a moment they just stood there in silence, but then Rose got restless.

"So...where are we going exactly?" she asked.

"To see the Administrator."


	6. House Arrest

The Tenth Class

Chapter 6: House Arrest

The elevator came to a slow stop and a ding, signifying that they were at their floor. The doors slowly opened to a darkened hallway, and at the end was a cracked door with a low flashing light coming from it. Ms. Pauling stepped out of the elevator, Rose following, and both headed down towards the light.

With a low and quiet voice, Wheatly asked Rose what was going on.

"Soooo...what exactly is going on?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know," Roes whispered. "But it might not be good. Stand by for an escape route."

Rose looked at Ms. Pauling, waiting to see if she heard them, but there was no response; not even any physical recognition. _'Hmm, let's hope she really didn't hear any of that,'_ Rose thought to herself. The two made their way to the door, and Pauling made a sudden stop before entering, and Rose did the same.

Pauling knocked on the door three times and then asked "Administrator?"

"Come in Miss Pauling," a raspy woman replied.

Pauling opened the door and stepped through, Rose right behind her. When Rose entered the room, she saw a massive amount of television screens of all sizes with different angles of the compound. Rose noticed on one of the cameras the room where she left all the mercenaries when she left with Pauling. From the angle it showed, Rose could tell that the camera was right above the door they entered. At the far right of the room was Scout, who was tossing a baseball up in the air, and Pyro who kept lighting a lighter. To the left of them Medic and Heavy were playing a game of chess, and Medic looked none to happy about it. Soldier and Demoman were in the center playing rock-paper-scissors. Closer to the camera, Rose noticed Sniper sharpening what looked like a machete of some sort, and Spy was smoking a cigarette near the window looking out. Engineer was the most active, slowly pacing back and forth, as if something was bothering him.

"I brought Miss Rose here to see you," Pauling said, Rose snapping back into attention. Rose looked in the center of the current room and saw a big twist chair that had it's back facing the two. It was in front of a computer console, with an ash tray on the right side of the chair, with plenty of cigarette butts in it.

"Yes, I see that Miss Pauling. You may go now. I'll call you in when I am finished," the woman said. Pauling nodded, and walked back out of the room, and closed the door behind her.

"What's this about?" Rose finally said after a short moment of silence.

"I've been watching you, Miss Rose," the woman said, puffing out a cloud of smoke and still looking at the screens. "Since the moment you set foot in the base, I have been keeping a close eye on you."

"Clearly," Rose said crossing her arms. "Look, in situations like these, I like to get right to the point, if you don't mind."

"Very straight forward, aren't we? Very well..." she said, turning her chair around. "Then let's get down to business."

Rose immediately grew a dislike for this woman. This woman had about the same clothes as Miss Pauling did, the only exception being that instead of a short-sleeved purple button-down, it was a long-sleeved one. She also wore dark purple, round earrings, and had big, black hair that looked like you could use it for a bon fire if it had enough hair spray in it. She also had a long streak of gray hair from the center of her head, reaching all the way behind her. She had many wrinkles, almost as if she had lived for quite some time, and had seen many things in her life. But she also had the look of someone very dangerous. _'If this woman is in charge here, then I get the feeling this is going to be an interesting ride,'_ Rose thought to herself.

"So what do you want?" Rose asked.

"All I want is information," the woman said.

"What kind of information exactly?"

"Simple. Where did you come from, and what are you doing here?" Rose looked at her, then looked at all the screens.

"Well, I dunno. Since you were watching me this whole time, why don't you tell me?" Rose asked back.

"Hmph," the woman said with a smirk. "Fair enough. Then I assume you'll just be on your way?"

"I dunno about that one either. Your men seem to like me a bit, especially since I saved your entire base, and their lives, from what I would assume would be a very difficult battle." Rose stated.

"My _men_ can take care of themselves, Miss Rose. They are mercenaries after all," she responded curtly. "And I can assure you, we don't need anymore help from you."

"Really?" Rose said, giving the woman in the chair an unapproving look. "That was certainly not the case from my perspective. From what I was told, these men could have used all the help they could get to beat back this _Grey Mann."_

The woman stared at her with cold eyes. "This isn't your fight, Miss Rose. So I would suggest that you stay out of business that doesn't concern you."

"What if I want to make it my business?" Rose challenged. The room became silenced. The two just stared at each other with distaste for the other for a moment before Wheatly decided to join in on the conversation.

"Okay, well, what my colleague means to say is that we just want to lend a helping hand, and since we just cut what could have been about an hour and a half fight that was cut down to about two minutes, we believe that we could be of great assistance," Wheatly intervened, coming out into projection.

"And who might you be?" the woman asked.

"I am-" Wheatly began.

"None of your concern," Rose interrupted.

"But-" Wheatly began again, but Rose just gave him a very stern look. He sighed and disappeared.

"Interesting," the woman said. "Tell me, Miss Rose, do you truly wish to stay here?"

"That depends. Are we going to continue having one on one meetings like this? 'Cause if so, the n I would prefer to bring a fan to get the stench of smoke out of my nostrils," Rose replied sarcastically.

"Hmph. No, we will not."

"Then probably, yeah."

"Hmmm..." the woman thought for a moment, then a slight sly smile came across her face. "Very well then, Miss Rose. You may stay, but on one condition."

"And what's that?"

"You will put under house arrest for two months, or until I deem it necessary that you may go on contracts with the mercenaries," she said. "Doing so will allow you to get more _'acquainted'_ with these men."

"That doesn't sound so bad," Rose said, her uneasiness subsiding just a bit.

"We'll see about that," the woman said with a smirk. "Miss Pauling? Can you come in here please?" Pauling immediately opened the door, almost as if she was standing right outside the door.

"Yes, ma'am?" she asked.

"Please take Miss Rose to her new quarters so that she may begin to make herself at home," the woman said.

"Right away Administrator," Pauling said obediently. "But, may I ask, where exactly is she staying?"

"Well with the very first of our mercenaries she had the pleasure of meeting," she replied.

"Wait, Medic? You want her to bunk with him?" Pauling said a bit surprised.

"Yes, Miss Pauling. Is that a problem?"

"Um no, no. Not at all."

"Good. You may leave now," she dismissed them, and then turned back to her computer console.

"C'mon then," Pauling said, turning to Rose. They both then made their way out the door and back to the elevator. They got inside and Pauling pressed the up button to floor they came from. They rode about halfway up before the silence was broken.

"Medic, huh?" Rose asked.

"Yup," Pauling responded.

"Well, this should be fun," Rose said with a nervous smile.

"Oh I wouldn't worry about it too much," the assistant reassured her. "Medic a competent doctor, and I'm sure he won't put anything in you he shouldn't."

"Wait, what?" Wheatly said immediately.

"Nothing. Nothing..." Pauling tried to cover. They continued the rest of the elevator trip in silence.

* * *

"YEEE-HAW!" Engineer yelled. "That's terrific news, Miss Pauling!"

The rest of the team was also celebrating in their own way, some more than others of course. They all gathered around Rose and Miss Pauling to hear the rest of what Miss Pauling had to say about Rose staying with them.

"It sure is Engie," she stated, "but unfortunately she will be under house arrest for a month or until the Administrator says she is able to go with you guys on missions."

"Wha- but why?" Engineer asked.

"Because of her breaking and entering the compound. If anything, that's the best case scenario if you guys think about it," Pauling explained.

"Hmm, I guess yer right, Miss Pauling," Engineer agreed.

"And where exactly is she going to be staying while she is here?" Spy said from the back of the room. Everyone just turned to look at him.

"I'm glad you asked that Spy. Rose will be staying with the person she first met when she arrived here," Pauling said a bit cryptically. Heavy, Demo, Scout and Spy all looked at each other in confusion. "No it's none of you. She will be bunking with Medic."

All the men looked a bit surprised, except for Medic, who's expression turned to a great excitement once he heard the news.

"Oh wunderbar!" the German exclaimed. "I vill go and get all zhe preparations made and ready! Oh zhis is so exciting!" Medic took off down the hall almost at a sprint.

"Wow, I didn't think he'd be that excited to bunk with me," Rose said, a bit more relaxed about rooming with the German doctor.

"Well, just in case, keep a knife under yer pillow, miss," Engineer began to warn. "He mean's well, but sometimes he gets a little too into his work, if you know what I mean." Rose nodded with a nervous smile.

"Well, I have work to do," Pauling said. "Rose, go ahead and make your self at home, and welcome to the team."

Pauling then went down the same hallway that Medic bolted down. _'She probably has to answer to that awful administrator woman,'_ Rose thought. But then she immediately dismissed these thoughts as Engineer offered to show her around the base so she could get a feel of the place.

"That would be nice, but I could really use some sleep," Rose said, starting to feel a bit groggy. Remembering that she entered the base when the sun was setting, she looked at a clock that was right above the windows from where they were standing and saw that it was 1:37 AM.

"Yeah, I guess we could all use the sleep," Engineer agreed. "Especially after that little episode we pulled off, hehe." The others agreed, some of them yawning.

"Sounds good to me," Wheatly said. "I only have one question: Where _is_ Medic's room?"

"Oh that's easy," Scout blurted out. "It's through his office to the right. It's past the other set of double doors past his desk, ya can't miss it!"

"Thanks Scout," Rose thanked the young merc.

"Ya, no prob!" he replied. And with that, Rose and Wheatly were off to bed.

They walked down the hallway, and as they approached, Wheatly popped up with a nervous face on him.

"What's wrong Wheatly?" Rose asked.

"Well, it's that Administrator lady we talked to earlier," he replied. "I very much don't like her. She seems to have something to hide."

"I agree, but what ever it is, we'll have to find it out later. Right now we need some rest."

"I know, I know," Wheatly said as Rose reached the door and was about to enter. "But I find it odd that she is 150 years old."

"Wait, what?!" Rose almost yelled. She immediately looked around for any cameras in case there were any in the hallway.

"Oh don't worry about the cams, Rose. If there are any down here, I've put them on a loop," he reassured her. "Thanks for buying me time down there in that control room, by the way."

"Oh yeah," Rose said calmly. "I almost forgot about that! Anyways, how do you know she's that old?"  
"Well, before I entered the system, I did a quick bio-scan and found some rather odd things. Namely, the fact that her stem cells have been regenerating for some time now, and the only way that would be possible is to find something that has regenerating properties, or at least age-prolonging properties."

"So what did you find?"

"Some sort of device on her right arm that was feeding her body some sort of goldish liquid. I couldn't get a full scan because I knew we didn't have much time."

"Hmm, looks like we'll have to make another trip down there, huh?" Rose said.

"Unfortunately, it seems so," Wheatly agreed.

Rose opened the door, and then stopped. "Geez, what has a woman like her been doing for 150 years?" she asked.

"I have no idea," Wheatly responded.

"Well of course you don't. It was a rhetorical question," she quickly teased, then continued through the door.

"I- How was I supposed to know that?" he snapped.

"You weren't. I'm just teasing you," Rose said with a smile.

The two had made their way through Medic's office to the double doors to the right. Rose went through them, and immediately came to a stop. To her left there was a whole area that looked like a bedroom, with a full-sized bed that had red and white blankets and pillows, a white lamp on top of a maple wood nightstand, and a foot locker at the end of the bed. There was also a tall wardrobe that was further down from the bed against the wall, also made out of maple. Right next to the door to her left was a desk with tons of paperwork on it, along with a bird perch on the far right of it.

She then looked to her right to see Medic standing over a medical bed, similar to the one out in his office. It also had a nightstand and a lamp next to it, and a footlocker at the foot of the bed. Medic turned to see who had entered and a big smile appeared on his face.

"Herzlich willkommen, Herr Rose!" Medic welcomed. "Sorry zhat you have to use zhis medical bed. It vas zhe only zhing I didn't have an extra of, hehe."

"Oh, um, that's okay Medic," Rose said. "I'm sure it'll do just fine."  
"Oh I am so glad you zhink so! Anyways, it's getting late, and I'm sure you are exhausted, vhat vith zhe plane crash and all," He said moving away from the makeshift bed. "As for me, I still have work I need to finish."

"That's okay, Medic," Rose said. "And thank you for doing all this."

"Anyzthing for a guest, fraulein," Medic said. "Gute nacht!"

"Good night, Medic," Rose replied.

Medic then left the room to let Rose get settled in. She went over to her bed and put her bag down on it. She opened it up to make sure she still had everything in it, and realized, she didn't have a change of clothes. _'Oh well, I'll just sleep in what I have,'_ she thought. She then put her bag down in front of the nightstand, and snuggled in under the blankets. Once comfortable, she gave her final good nights.

"Good night, Wheatly," she said quietly.

"Good night to you as well, Rose," he responded. And with that, she was fast asleep, unaware of what the next day held for them.


	7. First Day

**Hey guys! Hope you all are enjoying reading this as I am writing it! Drop off a review if you guys want, and hope you guys enjoy this new chapter. The next one will be out in two weeks!**

The Tenth Class

Chapter 7: First Day

"Coo, coo..." Rose heard a faint cooing sound nearby. "Coo, coo..." It was soft, but loud enough to wake her up from her sleep. She opened her eyes and say a white dove sitting next to her on her nightstand, watching her sleep. She smiled lightly and began to slowly sit up in her bed. Rose then, wiping her eyes from all the grogginess and looked around. Everything was still the same with Medic still no where in sight. _'Huh, I guess he got up early this morning,'_ Rose thought to herself. She looked back at her nightstand and the dove was still there.

"Are you Archimedes?" Rose asked, almost forgetting that she was talking to a bird. But much to her surprise the bird almost looked like it nodded to her question, nodding his head up and down. "Oh, well it's nice to meet you!"

The bird just let a light coo, continuing to look at her with great interest. Rose leaned over and lightly petted his head with her index and middle finger.

"Wheatly, start boot up sequence," Rose said after a quiet moment. The she heard some soft beeping and whirring coming from the back of her neck.

"Ahh, that was a good rest that was definitely well needed," Wheatly said after a few seconds passed.

"I take it you rested well?" Rose asked, stretching her arms behind her head.

"I do believe so. How about you miss?" he asked, his holograph lighting up in front of her.

"Oh yeah. That was probably the best night sleep I have had in a long time," Rose said with a gentle smile.

And it was true. For a long time, Rose hadn't been able to sleep well for months and it was begging to affect her slightly. She started day dreaming, or snoozing off while doing something monotonous during a mission. She could never figure out why, and Wheatly couldn't ever give her a straight answer.

"I can tell!" Wheatly said with a sigh of relief. "Your body seems a lot more relaxed and your mind scans show no extreme affects of negative activity."

"Well, that's definitely good news to start the day off with!" Rose said, getting up from her bed, stretching her legs as she got up. Then she heard the doors open and looked to see Medic Poking his head through the doors.

"Ah! Guten morgen herr Rose!" He said, coming through the door all the way, coming to a standstill in the middle of the room. "I zought I heard someone moving around back here. Did you sleep well?"

"Why yes I did, Medic. Thank you for asking," Rose thanked the German.

"Ah, of course!" He said with a bit of a bow. "Now, if you don't mind, I must get back to my experiments. I have some wild baboon hearts that need to be übercharged; for back-ups of course."

Rose's expression went from happy, to curious, to a bit worried. But then after a brief moment of thinking, Rose showed more curiosity than worry.

"Oh, how does that work?" she asked. Medic's face lightened up a bit to her question.

"Vell, if you have zhe time, I can show you exactly how it vorks!" the doctor said with a crazy look in his eyes, along with excitement. But before she could respond, her stomach gave a monstrous growl.

Rose looked down to her stomach, clenched it, and then looked back at Medic with a wince of pain.

"Um, I think I'll have to pass this time, doc," Rose said with a weak smile. "I haven't eaten in a while, apparently."

"Ack, zhat sounds about right," Medic said, his expression lightening. "You vere probably running off of adrenaline all night last night. I'm actually surprised you haven't passed out yet."

"Oh she's used to it," Wheatly finally chimed in. Medic gave him a confused look.

"It's okay, Medic," Rose assured him. "But I'll come take a look later at what your doing. It sounds interesting."

"Very vell! We have some food at zhe garage at zhe end of zhe hall downstairs," he instructed.

"Awesome! Thanks again, Medic," Rose thanked and then bolted out the doors.

Rose began her way out of Medic's office and down the hall she first made her way down to escape the mercenaries before. When she reached the stairs her stomach gave another vicious growl.

"Alright alright, I'm on my way," she growled back as she made her way down the stairs.

"Talking to our stomach again, are we Miss Rose?" Wheatly teased.

"What's this 'our' thing you keep saying? You're just a chip in the back of my neck," she teased back.

"Oh, great come-back. Let me just dust off the old sarcasm processors, and then I'll show you a _real_ come-back," Wheatly said.

"Processors? Oh my goodness..." Rose said, putting her palm up to her face.

"It's a figure of speech, okay," Wheatly defended.

"Mmhm, yeah. At least your constant garbling is keeping my mind off my hunger," she said, clenching her stomach again.

"You're very welcome!" the AI said with snooty tone to his voice.

Rose just shook her head as they made their way down the hall. Rose noticed the stairs that were at the end of the hall to her right, the same ones she was going to go down before she was caught by Heavy and the others. _'At least this time I'm not trying to run away from anything,'_ Rose thought to herself. _'That would just make me more hungry.'_ Rose reached the stairs and heard some of the men laughing down below, enjoying themselves.

"Well, guess we aren't the only ones awake now," Wheatly said.

"By the way, what time _is_ it, anyways?" Rose asked, making her way down.

"Oh it's 10:37 AM, Miss Rose," Wheatly said promptly.

"Wow, it's a little late for breakfast," she commented.

"So? You can have a brunch instead," Wheatly replied. "Besides, what do you care if you're so hungry?"

"You know how I like to be specific," she explained.

They finally made their way down the stairs and came out to a garage that had a truck that said _Red's Bread_ on the side near the door of the garage, a fridge, sink, and microwave to the immediate right of the truck, a workbench with various tools, along with a tool wall to the right of the fridge. There was also a table to the left with some chairs where Scout and Sniper were sitting and having some beers. Heavy was by the fridge eating a sandwich and Engineer was at the workbench working on what she could only assume was his teleporter that he was telling her about last night while they tweaked the weapons.

"Hmhm, hey guys!" Rose spoke up. "Anything good to eat this morning?" All the guys stopped what they were doing and looked at her, Engineer being the happiest to see her.

"Well howdy Miss Rose!" the Texan said with a big grin. "I hope y'all slept well last night."

"Certainly did, Engie. Thanks!" Rose said making her way to the fridge. "I am starving, however."

"Well, if yer not those picky eater types, there's a bucket of cold chicken, some left over pizza, and some sandviches in there, along with some beer," Engineer explain.

"You mean _sandwich,_ right?" Wheatly spoke out.

"No. Sandvich," Heavy mentioned.

"And I'm guessing you're not the sharing type, huh?" Rose asked. Heavy shook his head. "Alrighty then. Anyone have dibs on the pizza?"

Everyone shook their head, so Rose took that as a sign as to what she was going to have for breakfast. She walked over to the fridge and Heavy moved out of the way so she could get into the fridge. Rose nodded as a sign of _thank you_ to Heavy and he grinned slightly. She opened the door and saw that there wasn't much, but sure enough, everything that Engineer said was in there, was in there; a box of pizza, a bucket of chicken, some _sandviches,_ and a case full of beer from Mexico. They had lime wedges in the spouts.

Rose opened the box of pizza and relieved to find that it was just pepperoni topping, and not something crazy like Hawaiian pizza or something. She grabbed two slices, stood back up and closed the door and looked over to the sink area. There was a cabinet just to the left of the sink, so she walked over and opened it. There were a few dishes, most of them broken, but clean. She grabbed a plate and a clear glass cup and moved over to the sink for some water – she believed it was too early for a beer. She was about to turn the faucet, but Engineer interrupted her.

"Um, we have bottled water instead, miss," he stated. "These parts don't really have the best water reservoir, if ya know what I mean." Rose looked at him, glanced at the faucet, then put the glass down with a nod. Engineer went over to a cabinet that was behind him and pulled out a bottle of water and tossed it to her. She caught it and made her way over to the table that Scout and Sniper were sitting at. There was an empty seat to the left of Scout that she decided to sit at, but not before asking if she could sit there.

"Hey, um, Scout? Is it okay if I sit here?" Rose asked sheepishly.

"Oh yeah sure!" the Bostonian said with a big grin. She pulled out the chair and sat down and began to eat the pizza when a cough from Scout stopped her. "You gonna eat that cold? Not even gonna nuke it a little?"

"Nah, I like to eat cold pizza," Rose said with a smile, and took a big bite out of the first slice. "Mmm, not to mention I'm too hungry to have patience."

The men just laughed, and Heavy came to come join the group. Rose chowed down the rest of her pizza and drank all of her water before she participated in conversation.

"So what do you guys do around here for fun?" Rose asked after finishing.

"Eh mainly just chill, play some cards or just practice shooting at like, cans or something," Scout said. "We all just kinda do our own thing."

"I see..." Rose began. "So you guys don't, like, practice defensive procedures, or attack maneuvers for when Gray attacks again?" All of them chuckled, except for Engineer, who looked up from his work with a bit of interest.

"Psh, nah. Since when would we have time for dat crap?" Scout said.

"Well, right now would be a good time," she responded. "Sniper, what do you think?" Sniper looked at her for a quick moment, then got up without a word and left the room. "Was it something I said?"

"Nah, miss. He just isn't a big talker," Engineer said, coming over to the table.

"Oh, like around new people?" Rose said.

"No, like to anyone," Scout replied. "He's like one of those weirdos that just sit there and watch. Like a creep."

"Oh, okay I guess," Rose said. "Anyways, I told Medic I would see what he meant by übercharging a wild baboon heart after I got done eating." The men froze and looked at her with surprised expressions. "What?"

"Um, just be careful ma'am," Engineer spoke up. "The doc tends to get a bit...eccentric when it comes to his experiments, and most of us have had the misfortune of getting tangled up in some of them."

"Oh I'm sure everything will be just fine," Rose said getting up and putting her hand on his shoulder as she walked passed. "Besides, I'm almost positive I have seen worse."

"Alrighty then," Engineer said, tipping his hard hat to her.

"Hey, uh Rose? Mind if I walk wit ya? I need to stretch my legs out and...stuff," Scout asked.

"Um, sure Scout. I don't see why not," Rose said, going up the stairs. Scout got up immediately and caught up to her before she could take off without him.

They were walking down the hall in quiet for some time before reaching the second set of stairs, when Scout started up a conversation.

"So, uh, do you like eating cold buckets of chicken?" Scout asked, a bit nervous. Rose stopped, looked at him confused for a second, then a light turned on in her head, and she smiled lightly.

"Um, yeah. Yeah I do. Why do you ask?" Rose responded.

"Well, I like buckets of chicken, so do you..." Scout was about to ask.

"Let me stop you there," Rose interrupted. Scout stopped with a look of defeat on him, realizing that she caught on and wasn't happy about it. "Look, you seem like a great guy Scout. But firstly, I just got here. Secondly, I know nothing about you, and I'm not a fling girl."

"Heh," Scout smiled, "Yeah I figured that wouldn't work."

"Yeah, but I admire you for trying," Rose said. "Don't give up on that. Especially with Pauling."

"How did you-" Scout began.

"See ya later, Scout," Rose interrupted again as she started up the stairs.

"Yeah, see ya later!" Scout said, and he made his way back to the garage.

"Smooth operator that one," Wheatly said sarcastically.

"Hey lay off him," Rose snapped. "He was just hoping to get a girl. Unfortunately, it wasn't me."

"Yeah, I could tell. Good job letting him down easy," Wheatly commented.

"I know right?" Rose responded sarcastically.

"It was smoother than a baby's bottom," he continued.

"Way smooth..." she said. "Anyways, let's see what this doc is up to."

Rose came up to the door and heard the German mumbling something to himself while he was working. _'Wonder what he's working on?'_ Rose thought. She then decided to open the door at the same moment that she heard a small explosion, and when the door was all the way open, there was something red flying incredibly fast towards her face. Without hesitation, Rose ducked out of the way just in time for the red things to skim past the top of her head and splat on the wall behind her in the hallway. She looked at the red projectile that flew past her, and looked in wonder. _'Is that...blood?'_ she thought, expression turning a bit disgusted. Rose then turned her attention back to the doctor's office to see his suit vest spattered in blood from the explosion; in his right hand he was holding his mounted medi-gun, and in his left, the remnants of what looked like a heart.

"What the hell happened?!" Rose asked, a bit confused but curious as well.

"Vell, very simple actually," Medic began to explain. "You see, zhe charge from zhis medi-gun was too powerful for zhis little heart to take."

"And why is that?" Wheatly asked impatiently.

"Oh! I am glad you asked!" Medic began to get excited, and Rose became even more curious, despite the fact that she was almost splattered in the face by an exploding heart. "You see zhat was a normal human heart, vhich normally can't take zhis kind of voltage, but I've tested übercharging a mega baboon heart and have succeeded. But apparently I have gotten zhe wrong kind of heart."

"How did you come across this whole concoction in the first place?" Rose asked with wonderment. Medic tossed the remaining heart in a bin, and looked at her with an excited look.

"Vell, it all started when my team and I vere taking some heavy fire from our enemies, and I didn't have anything to heal zhem vith on zhe spot..." Medic began to explain. "Demoman's head was on fire and he began to flail his arms around vildly, knocking over one of my shelves, and the whole zhing was mixed together vith one of my small med-kits, a sandvich, a jar of jarate, and a small amount of blood."

"Um, quick question here," Wheatly interrupted, "What is _jarate_?"

"Oh, zhat's just a jar full of Sniper's, vell, yellow liquid," Medic said, almost hesitating to finish.

"Eeeewww," Rose and Wheatly echoed one another.

"Dude, that's a bit gross," Rose winced.

"I couldn't agree more, miss," Wheatly agreed.

"Oh it's not zhat bad," Medic said as he cleaned his hands off. "Don't be such babies."

"Oh I am not a baby when it comes to medicine," Rose stated, coming closer to the operating table. "Oh, I almost forgot!" She then pulled out a black switch-blade knife, the same one she used to escape from Medic when she first arrived.

"Oh...I almost forgot about zhat," the German said, his expression softening.

"Yeah, I figured since we are all on the same team now, I should probably give it back," Rose said, handing him knife. But instead of taking it back, Medic pushed it back towards her. "Don't you want your knife back?"

"Nein," Medic said. "Think of it as a welcome gift."

"Oh...well...thanks, Medic," Rose said, awkwardly putting the knife back in her pocket.

"Bitte, fräulein," Medic said. A long awkward pause sat still in the air before one of them spoke up.

"Mmhm," Rose cleared her throat, "So, can you show me how your medi-gun actually works? Like, does it really keep patients alive while you are working on them? How is that even possible!"

"Oh vell, I hope you don't have anyzhing planned for zhe day, because zhis could take awhile!" Medic said with excitement again.

As the German doctor began to explain his crazy medicine theories and sciences, Rose became at home, even more so then when she first arrived. She enjoyed the company of the doctor, regardless of any type of insanity the others may have accused him with. She also enjoyed the company of the others when she was having breakfast.

The only problem that she couldn't shake, and that was the Administrator. She got bad vibes from that woman, and the fact that she had eyes on all of these guys at all times. She was probably even watching _her_ right now. _'These guys definitely deserve better than this...whatever this is,'_ she thought as she continued to work with Medic. But all of that was for another day. This...this was just the first day.


	8. While the Cats Away

**Sorry everyone, I almost had this up a day early, but I just kept typing and wanted to put more in before I started the next chapter. Anyways, it's here, and as always, the next will be uploaded in about two weeks. Hope you enjoy and please leave a review if you'd like. Thanks!**

The Tenth Class

Chapter 8: While the Cats Away

It was a few days since Rose first joined the mercenaries. She was getting to know everyone, and the best way she knew how was on one-on-one time. Rose already spent a good amount of time with Medic and Engineer, probably because she felt like they were the only ones that didn't want to kill her _and_ could hold an intelligent conversation with. Not that she couldn't talk to the others as well, but it felt nice to talk to someone about the different sciences she adeptly savvy in.

One day, Rose was about to go try and spend the day with Demoman when she noticed Scout run by Medic's office door down the hall. She hurried out to catch and ask him what the rush is. She made it just before he jumped down the stairs.

"Hey Scout!" Rose yelled down the hall. Scout stopped running abruptly and turned.

"Yeah! What's up?" He yelled back.

"Where ya rushing to in such a hurry?" She asked him.

"Oh, Miss Pauling called a meetin' to send us on a mission! Looks like Gray is about to attack a hat factory, and it sure ain't gonna defend itself!" the young merc explained. "You comin'?"

"Ah I wish I could," Rose began to explain, "but I'm on house arrest, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Scout said and thought for a minute. "But that doesn't mean you can't at least come to da meetin'!"

Rose thought on this for a moment before Wheatly decided to intervene her thoughts.

"You know, Rose," the AI began, "he does have a point. The Administrator only said you couldn't go on missions. She never said anything about the meetings before hand."

"Hmm, yeah," Rose agreed. "And who knows, maybe I can give some more insight on how they can win this next battle! Alright Scout, wait up!"

And with that, she was off following Scout to the meeting room that was two floors down – the same level that the garage was on. She was super stoked to try and be apart of something that might have a significance, and with a war against machines no less! Scout, of course, beat her there and picked a seat next to Sniper, who was sitting on the left side of the room. Rose entered and saw that everyone was there; Soldier was sitting in front of Sniper, Engineer, and Scout, Spy was standing in the back of the room in the shadows, and on the other side of the table was Pyro, Demo, Medic and Heavy. Pauling was no where to be found at the moment, so Rose just stood next to the door and leaned up against the wall, crossing her arms. She looked around and noticed Spy almost giving her a death glare of untrust. Rose smirked and gave a slight wave, but all the mercenary did was puff out smoke from taking a huff from his cigarette, still glaring at her.

Feeling uncomfortable, Rose looked away from Spy and looked towards all the other mercs in the room, but all of them seemed to be having idle talk amongst one another. Wheatly spoke up lightly as to not draw attention from the others.

"Feeling a bit left out, eh Rose?" he asked lightly.

"Nah," she responded. "I am new here after all. It's not like I fit in with everyone here."

"Indeed, especially with that Spy fellow," Wheatly continued. "He doesn't seem to like people in general."

"Oh I don't know about that, Wheatly," Rose said, "I think he can be a charmer if he wants to be. I can almost feel it."

"Well, if you say so, Rose," Wheatly sighed. "Oh, Miss Pauling's about to walk in. Might want to start paying attention."

"No, I figured I would just stand here and try and hunch over like a gargoyle," Rose responded sarcastically.

"Hmm, I don't think Miss Pauling would appreciate that much," the AI scoffed. "Besides, you're not _that_ ugly to be a stone monster." Rose just gave a light giggle to Wheatly's remark, but than became very quiet as Pauling entered the room. The other mercs followed suit.

"Alright guys, thanks for coming in on such short notice. Gray Mann is at it again and this time it's at Coal Town," the assistant began to explain. "So I'm going to give you all your folder's and..." Pauling paused for a moment as her sight fell on Rose at the back of the room. "Uh, hi Miss Rose. I-is there something I can help you with-"

"Oh uh, I invited her to come, Miss Pauling," Scout spoke up. The young lady looked at Scout with a confused look for a moment before it turned to an expression of annoyance. "I thought, that even though she's on house arrest, that she could at least join in and maybe give some friendly tips. To, y'know, take on Gray?"

Pauling looked up at Rose for a quick moment over her glasses, then back to Scout.

"Hey, that's not such a bad idea, partner," Engineer spoke up. "After that last battle, or if you can even call it that, I'm sure we could benefit to havin' a fresh mind in on this."

"Ich stimme zu!" Medic chimed, "I've had zhe pleasure to have herr Rose as a bunk buddy, and I do believe her knowledge could be invaluable to zhis team!"

"Okay!" Pauling said with a huff. She pushed her glasses back into place and stood up straight. "The Administrator never said anything about you not sitting in on mission debriefing's, so I...I don't see why you can't stay, Miss Rose."

The mercenaries let out a soft hooray, and Pauling even smiled a bit at the idea of having some fresh new eyes on this ever growing ordeal. But before she started, Rose spoke up to say a few things.

"Thank you very much for your permission, Miss Pauling," Rose thanked. "And, please, just call me Rose."

"Can do, Rose," the assistant nodded. "Okay team, here are the details..."

Miss Pauling gave everyone full details as what to expect from Gray and Coal Town, and seeing as how she didn't expect Rose to show up to the meeting, Rose went over to Medic and shared the folder that had all of the information as well. After the debrief was done, Miss Pauling then asked everyone for ideas on how to survive this next battle.

"Well," Engineer began, "We can just blow up the carrier, same as before, right?"

"Not right," Rose intervened. "If Gray is as smart as you say he is, he might have already figured out a way to counter-act the massive EMP surge from the weapons."

"What do ya mean?" the Texan asked.

"Meaning that he might have some sort of trophy system in place to set off the charges prematurely, before they even come close to the carrier," Rose explained.

"So dat means we find other way to crush tiny robots," Heavy said.

"Exactly," Pauling agreed. "So any ideas?"

Rose thought for a moment, as well as the other mercenaries, and the room fell quiet. She looked through Medic's folder, more specifically at the pictures of the site, trying to come up with ideas. She saw that they came from one area only, going up a hill and could split into two to four pathways that converge on a central point to deposit a bomb. She thought that they should set up primarily defensive, with a few of the mercenaries playing offensively. And even though Pyro's and Soldier's weapons may not be able to hit the carrier, probably doesn't mean that they could use them on the bots.

She also remembered being told by Engineer what Spy's arsenal was and that he a sapper that could temporarily disable the bots for a time. Then she came up with an idea.

"Well," Rose started, "We could set up primary defenses on the Mann Mining Co. and the Chaps building; Heavy and Engineer on one, then Demo and Soldier on the other. Sniper can hang back at the top of the Salt Rock building, while Scout, Spy and Pyro are down in front. Medic can go where needed."

All the mercenaries looked at her a bit surprised, and then Spy spoke up with a hint of disdain in his voice.

"And what happens if we get tanks or giant robots, and get over-run? Fall back?" the masked Frenchman asked.

"Well, that or you could use your sapper, while Pyro and Soldier use their EMP weapons to use a final blow," Rose explained. "As for the tanks, if we were to do that a few times with bots around it, the energy from the sapper combined with the EMP blasts could deal some pretty massive blows."

"Hmm," Engineer voiced, "that actually might just work!"

"Yeah, and with Medic and Sniper covering you guys, it shouldn't be that difficult as long as you guys stick there," Rose said. "And if you guys have to fall back, then employ the same tactics, just closer to the detonation area, and Sniper can stay at the Salt Rock building, just above the stairway in the back."

"Alright this sounds like a sound plan to me," Miss Pauling said with great interest. "You guys go ahead and get ready to go, and Soldier and Pyro, make sure you guys take your EMP weapons with you."

Pyro and Soldier nodded, and were the first to take off, then everyone else started to file out after. The last one out, aside from Pauling and Rose, was Spy. He stood there, still in the shadows in the corner of the room, and gave Rose one more grim look before exiting the room with the others. Miss Pauling was gathering the left over papers, when Rose approached her after everyone left.

"Hey Miss Pauling?" Rose asked.

"Yes, Rose?" Pauling replied.

"Hey, I know I can't leave for a while longer, but is there like, I dunno, any type of like VR Training rooms or centers here. For, like training and stuff?" Rose asked specifically. Pauling looked at her a bit confused at first, then burst out into fits of laughter.

"Oh ho ho," Pauling starded to wind down, "Oh, we can barely afford to get better weapons for these guys. Let alone something as high tech as that."

"Hmm, well then I have a few more questions," Rose went on.

"I'm all ears," the assistant said with a light grin on her face.

"Okay," Rose started, "First question: do you have an empty room large enough to fit massive amounts of machinery, but still have enough room to have a room that would be as big as, oh say the garage?"

"Hmmm, uh yeah! Actually we have a huge empty space near the lower levels of the facility that fits that description," Pauling answered. "Why?"

"Well that leads to my next question," Rose said. "With your permission, can I hike back out to the plane crash and the carrier site and scavenge parts and metal from there?"

"I dunno..." Miss Pauling said, a bit cautious. "Why do you want to scavenge for parts?"

"What if I told you that there was a way to get a high tech VR facility that won't cost us a single dime?" Rose said with a grin.

* * *

"Are you thinking about doing what I think you're thinking about doing?" Wheatly popped up, asking with a devilish grin.

"I don't know," Rose said, "What do you think I'm thinking about?"

"What I think you're thinking about is thinking about making a VR Training facility," Wheatly guessed.

"Well you thought right," Rose confirmed. "Since these guys are going to be going on missions without me for a bit, I have to do _something_ with my free time. Right?"

"Can't argue there!" Wheatly said. "I still can't believe Miss Pauling is allowing you to go to these sites unsupervised."

"Oh I don't think she'd do that," Rose said as she came to a back get she could only assume the mercenaries used to get to the plane crash site before. "I'm sure there is some sort of surveillance watching me right now, making sure I don't do anything that creepy old lady wouldn't like."

"I guess you're right," the AI said, making himself look like he was leaning on a wall. "She is a creepy old lady, isn't she."

"The creepiest," said Rose with a laugh. "Anyways, remember those VR Training facilities we started working on back at Apature?"

"Oh yes, those! Right before we left because of their inhumane human conduct," said Wheatly.

"Well with any luck, I'm going to at least build a crude version of one down in that room Miss Pauling was telling us about."

"Hmm, well obviously well need a navigation drive...plus a generator, to make sure everything runs," Wheatly began to list.

"Well obviously. We also need to fashion up some holographic mods to use for the VR portion as well as some computer parts that I'm hoping to get from the carrier site," Rose mentioned.

"How are you going to even build all this without any tools?" Wheatly asked.

"Don't you remember that Engie said I could use his? As long as return them of course."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that! Guess I'm just a little excited to be doing something this big!"

"Don't forget that I also need to build an AI port for you to run the system in case I'm helping with some of the training," she said continuing on the path to the plane crash, pushing branches out of the way.

"Man, I can't believe it's only been a few days since the crash," Wheatly said after a few moments of silence.

"Yup," Rose agreed. "A lot has changed since those few days, huh?"

"Quite! I mean we got involved with mercenaries, hired killers, that are involved with a type of robot war with a man who killed his two brothers, just to try and take over his father's company to gain a super rare substance that can prolong life!" he listed. "It's definitely new." Rose just giggled.

"Heh heh, yeah. It sure is pal," Rose said. After a few more moments of walking in silence, they reached the crash site. Rose looked around before coming out into the opening; she noted that the plane had looked like it wasn't even tampered with since the crash, and even the dead body of the pilot was still there. Her eyes also came across the bushes that she hid behind when the mercs first came over. She smiled.

"You know something weird, Wheatly?" Rose said, stepping out sensing the coast was clear.

"Hmm? What's that, Rose?" he responded.

"That we still don't even know what shot us down," she said, examining the plane for parts. "And that this whole site is still here."

"Yes. That is very odd," Wheatly said, showing up right next to her on the ground. "Do you think that there were explosives already on the plane?"

"Who knows," Rose said moving rubble around. "For all we know we could have been hit with anti-air missiles or something. But I think I might be more concerned as to why this rubble hasn't been picked up already, or why the dead body is still here, or even why no one else heard or saw the crash and has come to investigate?"

"Those are all good questions, Rose," Wheatly said.

"And I believe I might know the person who can answer them. Some of them at least," Rose said.

"And I'm sure she is just teeming to tell you all you want to know," the AI teased.

"Oh yeah...totally," she rolled her eyes. "Hey! Look what I found!"

At this time Rose and Wheatly had made their way to the cockpit, or what was left of it, and to both of their surprise the dashboard was still in good shape.

"Huh, I wonder if the nav drive is still intact," said Wheatly. "I can try scanning for it while you look around for other parts."

"I was wondering when you were going to do something useful," Rose teased.

"Hey, I've been being useful!" he said defensively. "I've been keeping you company right?"

"I'm not sure if I should count that as a blessing or a curse," Rose continued to tease.

"Okay, okay. That's the last time I try to be nice," the AI said as he began to scan for their part. Rose began to take her backpack off and rummage through it to find the tools that she might need to get the part out with out damaging it further. While she pulled out her tools, Wheatly spoke up with some good news.

"Hey the drive is here! It's a little beat up, but with a little tinkering, it should do the trick!" he said from a distance.

"Great! Here, lemme come get it out and then we'll get some more parts from here and head back to base," Rose said as she headed over to the console.

She knelt down and started to pry the piece from the plane's console without damaging it further. After a minute or so of prying, Rose finally released the nav drive, looked at it for a quick moment, then stuffed it in her pack. Rose then got up and continued around the plane, collecting parts. She saw some big pieces of metal that she thought could be useful and decided to try and make a type of sled to take everything back to base with. With some more time and searching, she found a big, flat piece of metal with screw-size holes around some of the sides, and a section of rope from a box that was buried near the back of the wreckage. Putting everything together, Rose was able to build the sled, grab the parts and pieces needed, and started to make her way back to the facility.

Once at the gate, Rose noticed that there was a type of communication box that reminded her of closed gated communities, and wondered who would answer if she rang it. Considering her options, she pushed the button.

"What are you doing?" Wheatly asked, a bit nervous and curious.

"Well, if Pauling answers, then maybe she'll know an easy way to get this stuff down to that room, instead of us, well me actually, having to drag this all the way through the facility," she explained.

"And what if the Administrator answers?"

"Welp, I'll still answer the same question, but I don't think I'll get a helpful answer," Rose stated. They waited for a few seconds before a woman answered the intercom.

"Who ever this is, this is a restricted area and...and..." the voice stopped. "Oh Rose! it's just you. Done already?

"Almost Miss Pauling," Rose informed her. "I still have to go to the carrier site and get a few things there and then I can begin building."

"Alright, but don't take too long, okay?" Pauling warned. "Oh! You probably also want to know how to get all that stuff in, right?"

"Yes please!" Wheatly answered for her.

"Okay well, if you head left from the gate, and down the hill a bit, you'll come across a backdrop and some fake trees," the assistant began to describe. "Just push past and you will make your way to the garage. From there I can open the way to the room so you can start setting up things, okay?"

"Sounds good, Pauling! We'll see ya down there," said Rose. Then she turned around and began to drag the pile of metal and parts to the left like Pauling had instructed. Rose noticed that the hill Pauling was talking about was a tad bit steep, so Rose decided to use the sled she made to go down the hill with.

"Ummm, Rose?" Wheatly asked timidly, "What are you doing?"

"Just going for a little ride," she said with a smirk.

"I don't think..." Rose pushed the cart, "this is a GOOD IDEEEAAAAA!" Wheatly screamed as they gained momentum down the hill as Rose sat in the front of the sled.

"WOOHOO!" Rose screamed with excitement as the sled sped down the hill. "THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!"

"NOOO-HO IT'S NOT!" Wheatly screamed in objection.

The two, along with a ton or more of metal, darted down the hill, hitting bumps along the way. Rose reached into her bag and grabbed her butterfly swords, but this time they had a chain connected to each other.

"You added a chain?!" Wheatly asked, clearly still terrified.

"Yuppers!" Rose yelled in response.

"It's a nice touch!"

"THANK YOU!" Rose screamed in appreciation.

She then proceeded with weaving the left blade through a gap in the front of the sled, and began to swing the right blade in a circular motion before throwing it towards a group of giant rocks and the left one in a thick oak wood trunk. Before the momentum could come to a quick halt due to her man-made anchors, Rose jumped off to the left of the sled and let gravity do the rest. Rose landed in a small pile of leaves and dirt, and before she realized just where she was, she turned around in time to see the pile of metal and parts jerk up-wards and her two blades come out of their anchored areas with great force. The sled didn't come to a full stop, however, but it did slow down quite a bit. Since the momentum had all but died down, the sled slowly came to a final stop.

Rose slowly stood up, dusted herself off and headed to the sled. When she got there, she noticed that she was right in front of the back drop that Miss Pauling had to described to them earlier. She grinned.

"Well," she huffed, "that was easy _and_ fun!"

"Can we maybe find another way next time that doesn't try to get us killed!?" Wheatly whined.

"Now where would the fun in that be?" Rose teased.

"Not everything life-threatingly dangerous has to be _fun_ you know!" the AI reamed.

"Oh, now don't start being boring again," she sighed and pulled the sled through the back drop. The back drop itself was set up between two large cliffs and trees, giving it the illusion that there was a continuing forest just past the rocks.

"Huh, not bad," Rose mumbled as she picked up her butterfly swords, grabbed the cart and began to drag it through. Once past, she saw the entrance to the garage that Pauling was talking about, and continued further.

After a minute or two, Rose made it in the garage with all of the scrap and parts and began to call out to Miss Pauling.

"Hey Miss Pauling," she shouted, "We're here. Can you open up the way to the room, please?"

"Oh okay, but only because you said please," Pauling said over the intercom.

Suddenly the wall next to the stair case of the garage made loud noises and move to the side, revealing a secret passage area that Rose was sure the mercs didn't actually know was there. Without asking any questions, Rose pulled the sled into the room. She noticed that the lights were off and began to feel her way around the walls near the entrance for light switches of any kind. Then her fingers came across some rather big switches, and assuming they were for the lights, the flipped them and room became flooded with lights.

Flinching to the sudden brightness, Rose put her forearm above her eyes for a brief moment, then once they adjusted, put it down as she looked around. _'Wow,'_ she thought, _'Pauling wasn't kidding when she said this was a big room.'_ Rose went further in the room, feeling a flood of joy, happiness and excitement as she started to picture where she was going to put things.

"I hope this fits your plans, Rose," Pauling said over the intercom. "At least it'll get some use now."

"It certainly is and will, Miss Pauling. I have no doubt about that," said Rose as she began to unload her sled. After a few long moments of unpacking, Rose was ready to head out to the carrier site for the rest of what she needed.

She told Pauling that her and Wheatly would be back soon, and would begin construction as soon as possible because she wanted to surprise the mercenaries with something that they could benefit from. Going out the same way she came in, Rose headed back up to the gate, but this time, just continued past it, making her way around the facility. Wheatly was still recovering from their roller coaster ride so he didn't say much this trip, which Rose understood.

As Rose got closer to the wreckage, she could tell that there were a lot of robots that were on board this carrier. The whole area leading up to it was littered with destroyed parts. Walking past some parts of scrap, Rose noticed a robot that was only partially destroyed from the wreckage, and it took her by surprise; not because it survived, but that it looked almost exactly like – Medic.

"Wow," said Rose with a huff, "Engineer never told me Gray built these bots to look exactly like the mercs."

"Whoa, you're right," Wheatly said, coming out and scanning the damaged bot. "Maybe it slipped his mind."

"Ya, there was a lot going on," she replied. "C'mon, let's keep searching for parts. Maybe we can use some spares from these bot to make some training dummies."

"Sounds like a plan," Wheatly agreed. They began to move on, Rose carrying the sled and putting things on as she went.

Unbeknownst to them, however, the bots eyes (representing Medic's glasses), began to faintly glow a blue color; they were being watched.

"Hmmm," an older man's voice said with annoyance. "So this is the one who came up with those EMP weapons those baboons used to blow up my carrier." The robot's eyes flickered, then turned off. "Looks like the playing field has changed."


	9. A First for Everything

**Hey everyone! I am SUPER SORRY for the long update. I was sick for like almost two weeks, and my allergies have been killing my brain power but i finally got this chapter completed! I do hope you enjoy it, I had fun writing it! And as always, leave me a review if ya want! I might be able to get the next chapter up by next Saturday to make up for the lack of time. Anyways, Enjoy!**

The Tenth Class

Chapter 9: A First For Everything

"Remind me, what did we come here to get again?" Wheatly asked.

"Did you seriously forget already," said Rose, pushing a big piece of destroyed metal out of her path.

"Well, we did have a bit of a mind-racking sled ride earlier," he said defensively.

"Okay fair enough," she confessed. "We still need to find a generator strong enough to power the room as well as some parts to build the holograph sequence, and some extra computer parts I hope to find around here. Hell, we might even use these destroyed bots for something, but I'll wait for Engie to get back to ask."

"What plans do you have in mind?" the AI asked.

"I'm not sure, maybe some sparing partners or even use them against Gray," Rose explained.

"Hm, sounds interesting enough," Wheatly said.

"Yup," said Rose. A moment passed before she spoke up again. "Hey Wheatly? Can you scan for the parts that we would need for a holograph drive and some extra computer parts. Look through the bots too."

"Sure thing, Rose!" Wheatly chirped, and then began to scan the area for parts.

Meanwhile, Rose looked for parts to work on a generator, or find something like it still intact. She passed through a bunch of debris, and found some other bots that looked just like the mercenaries she worked with; there was one that looked like Demoman, but only had one eye, and it was missing it's right arm and left leg, and there was one that looked like Pyro, except it was missing all of its limbs and a portion of its torso. She then came across a bot that was mostly intact that looked like spy, and like all the other bots, it had a blue tint to it's metal. It was designed to have a mask, like the Spy she knew, and it's body looked like it had a suit. There was also an exhaust pipe coming out of it's back, which at first, seemed a bit out place, but then Rose figured that since these bots are replica models of the real thing, that it was supposed to represent Spy's cigarette.

"Huh, that's kind of funny," Rose said in a low tone.

"What is?" Wheatly asked.

"How Gray was able to build these bots so look and probably act exactly like the real mercenaries," she answered.

"And probably fight, as well," added Wheatly, "Which means that we could be looking at a stalemate in terms of a battle."

"Maybe, in terms of what skill each side has, but you also have to remember that there's only nine of them," Rose paused and looked up at the destroyed carrier, "and a whole lot more of them."

"Hmm, good point," the AI admitted.

"Anyways, any luck with those parts we need?" Rose asked.

"Not yet, but I'm sure we'll find something soon," Wheatly answered.

"Hopefully, 'cause this place gives me chills," she said rubbing her arms as if she were cold.

She continued to move forward, and in doing so her foot nudged the foot of the Spy bot that was lying on the floor. The bot then started to whirr and twitch slightly, but Rose didn't notice as she continued to walk on by looking for anything that look like a generator. The robot's eyes then began to light up, and the head slowly start up and looked around.

"Hey I found one something that might help our generator problem," Rose said, ducking under a piece of metal and looking at a giant robot that looked like Heavy, just missing a head. "I think a robot that big has a generator that could help do the trick."

As Rose headed over to the robot, the Spy-bot that they had passed noticed her moving towards the giant Heavy-bot, and began to get up slowly. When the robot was finally up, it pulled out a butterfly knife from a pack from its back, and started to make its way to Rose, who was unaware of the danger approaching.

"Well that sure is a big robot," Wheatly pointed out. "I sure am glad we didn't have to fight those things."

"You and me both, buddy," Rose agreed. "That would have been an interesting fight if they didn't have those energy weapons."

"I would definitely say that they certainly came in handy," he said. "Now let me take a look at this giant metal monstrosity and see if it has what we need."

As Wheatly began to scan the giant robot, the Spy-bot crept closer and activated its cloaking mechanism. The cloaking made a noise faint enough for Rose to hear, which caused her to turn her head. She looked behind her to see what made the noise but she didn't see anything there; _'_ _I don't like this...'_ Rose thought to herself.

"Hey Wheatly?" she began to ask.

"Hmm?" he said, trying to concentrate on his scanning.

"Did you hear that? Almost like some device going off behind me," she said turning around. She then reached into her bag, grabbed her butterfly swords, and pulled them out.

"Uh, no. No I did not. If you haven't noticed, Rose, I'm just a tad bit busy," Wheatly said with a bit of annoyance in his voice.

"Well stop for a sec and do a quick scan for enemies for me please," Rose said, moving forwards very slowly and quietly.

"Uh fine, but I'm telling you, it's probably noth-" Wheatly paused. "Rose. Stop." Rose froze. "That Spy-bot we passed. He's nearby," he whispered.

" _Where?"_ she whispered.

"I'm not sure, his cloaking device is making it hard to spot," he said. Rose looked around, and then remembered that the bot had a pipe on its back that was supposed to be its cigarette. She then immediately looked around for a light line of smoke. It took her a minute to finally catch where it was, but when she found it, she was almost taken off guard; when she saw the smoke trail, it was about two feet to her left, and she saw a shimmer swipe down towards her. Luckily, she saw the shimmer just in time to react and dodged further left as she felt the tip of a blade just barely miss her arm.

"Rose! Are you okay?" Wheatley said. The Spy-bot appeared, and by the looks of it, it was none too happy it missed its target.

"Yeah," Rose huffed from being startled. "Was just caught off guard for a sec, but I'm alright. Now this bot on the other had..."

The robot stood straight up looked and her, the went into a fighting stance, motioning her to 'bring it on.' Rose smirked, then brought up her right butterfly sword and pressed a button that was on the hilt and her swords suddenly began to to spark with electricity all over the blades. She took a fighting stance, and the two froze in anticipation of who was going to make the first move.

There was a light breeze that passed and everything became deathly silent. Rose looked at the Spy-bot, and analyzed the best course of action that she could take; she noticed that the bot's right leg was damaged from the explosion and that part of its chest-cassis was damaged to reveal some wires. _'Hmm, that might work,'_ Rose thought to herself..

"Wheatly, keep scanning the giant bot for our part," Rose instructed her AI.

"But Rose, what if you need my help?" Wheatly asked concerned.

"I do, and right now it's to see if that thing has the parts we need. I'll take care of this guy," she said confidently.

"If you say so, Rose," Wheatly said, hesitation in his voice.

After a short moment later, Rose's muscles began to tense up as she began to get ready for her first attack. Then, without hesitation, she bolted towards the Spy-bot at full speed, left sword behind her and her right in front for blocking any on-coming attacks. The bot tensed up, as if not quite expecting her to start off that quickly, then became a bit more loose for his first attack.

As she approached her target, she held her right sword up and brought her left sword for a full swing towards the bot, but it was able to just barely dodge the swipe, Rose just grazing the surface of its metal. She then put her foot down for an immediate stop, turned to her right and brought up her right sword to block the robot's oncoming attack, as he brought down its butterfly knife to slash her back.

Caught off guard again, Rose took the opportunity to slide off its knife with her sword, and brought her left foot forward with a kick to its right leg as hard as she could. The momentum from the kick caused the Spy-bot's right leg to give in, the gears and servos breaking under the pressure, which in turn caused the bot to lose its balance and fall backwards onto the floor. Without another moments hesitation, Rose brought her right sword to her side and quickly jutted it into the robots broken chest-chassis, and before the robot had time to react the electrical surge from the sword caused the wiring to fry, frizzle, and short-circuit. For a good few seconds, the Spy-bot twitched and spazzed as Rose continue to drive the blade into the robot further, a fierce look of anger on her face. The robot finally stopped moving, and Rose waited a few seconds more just to make sure that the bot didn't get up again. It was Wheatly's voice that ended up snapping her back into reality.

"Rose, I think it's dead now," he said calmly.

"Ngh, ugh yeah," Rose huffed, "yeah...it is."

"Now what?" Wheatly asked.

"Ah, we continue with our plan to get the generator and holograph parts, then we blow this place up a second time, just to make sure," Rose said standing up and shaking off her blade of the luminous amounts of oil on it.

"How do you expect to do that? Just set up a remote bomb or something?" the I asked.

"Actually, yeah. There has to be some left over bomb pieces that could still function, and if not, I'm sure we can use these bots to make a make-shift bomb," she answered.

"Well, I guess that would work."

"It'd better. Hey did you get anything from that scan of the giant bot?" Rose asked, remembering Wheatly's task before the fight.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot!" he stated, "the giant bot has a generator that will work, but we do need to fix it up in order to get it up and running."

"Good, then I'll bring up the sled and I'll get to work on getting it out. Afterwords we will continue looking for parts and then we will rig the rest of this place to blow," Rose instructed.

"Sounds like a sound plan," the AI agreed. "Let's hope we don't run into any more reactivated bots."

"Wait, what?" Rose said, hesitating to what Wheatly said.

"What?" he asked confused.

"You said 'reactivated?' Right" Rose asked back.

"Yeah, I don't see-" Wheatly paused. "ohh...I see."

"Yeah that means someone is activating what bots they can. That thing didn't just come to life by itself," Rose pointed out.

"So what, are you saying that Gray still has control of the bots?" Wheatly asked.

"Well, with a general control system like the carrier destroyed he might be, to be honest," she said as she walked passed the dead Spy-bot. As she walked by, however, something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye that was lying right next to it. She turned to look what it was, and her expression was a mixture of confusion and a bit of excitement. "Wait, is that...is that a small pile of money?"

"What do you mean?" Wheatly said, popping up and giving her a look like she was crazy.

"Yeah! Look over next to that Spy-bot! It's a small pile of cash!" she exclaimed, jumping over to the robot to check out the money.

"I – well I guess – I suppose that is a small pile of cash," Wheatly said dumbfounded. "Where did it come from?"

"I don't know," Rose said kneeling down to pick up the money for a closer look, and maybe to take some home.

"Wait, Rose! We have no idea where that money has been!" Wheatly warned.

"Why do you think I'm coming over to investigate?" she said with a light smile on her face.

"Not in particular, no," the AI turned away with his arms crossed.

Rose looked around for any particular places the money could have come from, and her eyes landed on the Spy-bot again. She notices that a latch on the side of the bot had come undone, and there appeared to be an empty compartment. _'That's weird,'_ Rose thought, _'I didn't notice that when I took it down.'_ She then moved over to the bot and stuck in her hand in the compartment to feel around for anything useful, but she found nothing but an entry way into a tube.

"Wheatly, I think these bots...are powered by money," Rose concluded.

"What?!" he yelled in disbelief.

"Hear me out on this, there is an empty compartment here, and a tube that leads away from the inside," Rose tried to explain.

"But that – that's impossible," the AI turned to look with interest and curiosity.

"I know, but if you think about it, that would explain the lack of oil when I stabbed the damn thing," she said standing up to examine the robot's body closer.

"I just...don't understand," Wheatly huffed.

"Well, I'm sure that we can ask Engineer when the group gets back, but for now, lets get back to getting our things and leaving," Rose said turning around and picking up the money. "In the mean time, we have things to do."

"Agreed. I'll keep scanning for parts that we could use," Wheatly said.

The two then continued on their way, picking up parts as they need. Rose was satisfied with how much they accomplished for the day. She was also eager to get started on their VR training center for the team and herself. It took them a bit longer this time around to get the parts they were looking for, but about an hour and forty-three minutes later the two were already on their way back from the carrier site. Luckily they had no more problems with robots reactivating, and Rose was able to set up some make-shift explosives from some left over weapons from the Soldier-bot and Demo-bot, as well as a remote to activate the explosives once Rose and Wheatly were a safe distance away.

"Okay, are we ready," Rose said. She stopped pulling the cart and pulled out the remote for the explosives.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Wheatly said, appearing and giving a relaxed stance. "Are you sure this is necessary?"

"Better safe than sorry," Rose said.

"Eh, good point, I suppose," the AI shrugged.

"Alright. I'll count down from five," she said holding the remote in the direction of the sire and began to count down. "Five...four...three...two...one."

She flipped the switch on the remote, and after a split second of silence, the air was filled with the sounds of massive explosions again, and the evening sky lit up once more with bright colors. Rose stood there, admiring their handiwork, and was relieved that she didn't use too much explosives to where it would knock her off her feet. After all the commotion died down, Rose picked up the slacks of the sled and continued to make her way to the facility.

"Well that was nice," Wheatly said as they made their way to the garage. This time, however, Rose took the long way around so Wheatly didn't have to endure another sled ride.

"I agree. You can never go wrong with explosions," Rose said satisfied of their accomplishments.

"So, what's next Rose?" Wheatly asked.

"What comes next is the easy part," Rose started. "All we have to do is get everything set up."

"Thank goodness!" Wheatly said with exasperated glee. "I think I have had enough excitement for one day, I can tell you that much!"

"Oh you've been on vacation for too long," Rose teased. "We need to get you back in shape. I remember when we used to go weeks on a dangerous mission and you'd be just fine."

"Well what can I say? Being on house changed me Rose," the AI teased back. "I'm not I can ever change back! It's just to barbaric for me!"

"Oh shut up, you big ham," she chuckled as she walked through the garage door.

"Well I never...I'm not a ham, ma'am. I am an artificial intelligence unit that has the capability to run multiple simulations at once, all while residing-"

"Alright, alright. Keep your pants on, Mr. AI Almighty," she teased again.

"Again with the pants thing! We – I thought we already went over this, Rose!" Wheatly huffed.

"Yeah yeah, just hush up and help me out with this. I would like a model of what we discussed we were going to do and how we were going to set this up," Rose instructed.

"We in such a rush?" the AI asked.

"Because I want to get this set up before the guys get here," she stated. "Kind of like a surprise present for a good job and for tolerating me for this long."

"Ah, well then, what are we waiting for then!" he said.

"For you to stop talking long enough for us to actually get some work done," Rose said with a smirk.

"Oh not this again," Wheatly sighed.

After a few more witty exchanges, the pair began to work on their VR Training simulator which took them the rest of the day, and some of the next day to finish. There were a few hiccups here and there, like trying to alter the fuel source intake in the generator from money to actual fuel and setting up an actual computer to process everything, and some other little things here and there.

Evening began to settle across the compound the following day and Rose and Wheatly were putting the finishing touches. Rose stepped back, completely covered in spots of oil, grease and dirt, and was rubbing her hands clean with a dirty rag. She took a moment to pause and admire the hard work that her and her companion put into the room, and was excited for the mercenaries' return.

"So how do you think they'll react?" Rose asked Wheatly when she finished admiring her handiwork and she began to make her way out of the garage.

"I think Engineer is going to pass out, heehee," Wheatly said jokingly.

"Heh, seriously Wheatly. Do you think they'll really like it?" she said, suddenly feeling unsure of herself. She really wanted to make a good impression on these guys, especially since she was going to stay there for a while.

"Oh yeah! Yeah, definitely! I think you might even impress Spy," Wheatly reassured her.

"Now that would _really_ be something, now wouldn't it?" Rose said with a smile. She began to make her way up the stairs from the garage to the second floor, continuing to her and Medic's room to clean herself off.

Miss Pauling had told them earlier that day that the mercs were successful in defending Coal Town and were going to be back by the end of the day. She was really excited to show them all the cool things the VR training room could do with all the parts they scavenged from the two sites. She was so excited that she forgot to eat almost anything all day because she wanted to make sure the room was down before they arrived. Rose also wanted to make sure she smelled nice before they arrived so they wouldn't pass out from her fumes, but then she thought that some of them could actually handle it. The thought made her giggle a bit.

"A bit bubbly, aren't we," Wheatly teased.

"No, I was just thinking about some things," she responded.

"Hm? Like what?"

"Oh nothing. Just how badly I smell," she dared not elaborate, for fear of giving him more ammo to make fun of her with.

"Oh quiet! I would dare to say that a cow farmer would run away from such a stench," he went on to tease.

"Oh shut up! You can't even smell, you bully," she snapped, but then smiled at the remark.

"I'm just teasing, Rose. No need to get worked up," he said. Rose figured that was his way of apologizing. "Anyways, I'm sure you don't smell that bad, and judging by what Miss Pauling told us this morning, you have plenty of time to clean up."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Rose said, climbing up the next set of stairs.

The pair was quiet from then on, except for the occasional witty remark to one another. While Rose showered, however, Wheatly shut down his systems for a bit to run some diagnostics on himself, and on the adapter, just to give her some privacy. Rose was happy to have the space to herself for the time being. She enjoyed Wheatly's company, but from time to time she also enjoyed be by herself with her thoughts. As she cleaned herself off, she allowed her thoughts to wonder, from the time she first arrived, to the events that transpired within the past 24-hours.

She thought how nice most of the mercenaries were when she decided to stay and help with Gray, except for Spy. Rose paused for a second; he, along with Sniper, were pretty much the only two that didn't trust her being here. Rose thought on it some more, and remembered what they represented in terms of skill. ' _Sniper was always meant to be behind the scenes, and Spy was, well, a spy. He probably really never trusts anyone fully because of what he does,'_ she thought as she continued to clean herself. _'Maybe I've been too expectant of them. I just need to let things take their course. Maybe eventually they'll warm up to my being here. I'm surprised they even go with the plans I make up in the first place. But that's probably because the rest of the team is going along with it, and to deviate would probably put them in an even worse situation.'_

Rose was happy with the conclusion she made and let her mind wander once more as she finished her shower. Her mind eventually landed on the Spy-bot that attacked her the day prior, and how her and Wheatly found a pile of money lying right next to him. She laughed at the thought that money could be their fuel source, and how idiotic of an idea it was to just through money like that at the enemy, basically. _'Gray must not be as smart as everyone thinks he is,'_ she thought with a smile as she stepped out of the shower. _'But I got to remember to ask Engineer about that, and see if the mercs have been getting money.'_

Heading back to her room, Rose realized something very dire; she didn't have any spare clean clothes. Rose hadn't thought about much of her clothes, since she had just been wearing the same outfit since the crash and she didn't see her suitcase at the crash site either. _'Oh crap...'_ she thought. Rose looked around the room for any ideas, and saw a speaker next to Medic's desk to her right. She then had the idea of asking Miss Pauling if she would know where to get more spare clothes, so she rushed over to the speaker and pressed the button.

"Miss Pauling?" she said through the speaker. Rose waited a moment for a response, but none came, so she went again. "Miss Pauling are you there?"

After a few more moments of silence, Rose was about to ask for her again but then she heard the secretary's voice come on before she could do anything, "Yes Rose? What is it?"

Relieved, Rose told her about her current predicament. "Oh hey, yeah. Um so I don't suppose you guys have any spare clothes lying around for me to where while mine get cleaned do you?" she asked sheepishly, holding on to the towel around her body tightly.

"Spare clothes? What do you need..." Pauling paused, "Oh wait! That's right I almost forgot! Wait there, I have something to give you!"

"W-wait, but Miss Pauling," Rose started, but it was probably too late.

Rose stood back from the speaker with a sigh and a pout. What could Pauling possibly have to give her at this time? And why did spare clothes remind her to give her something? It's not like she had one of Rose's suitcases, or anything, right? Rose kept pondering about this, when she heard some foot-steps outside Medic's office, and to male's talking. She listened for a moment, then her jaw dropped; it was Medic and Engineer. _'They can't be back already!'_ she thought, panicked. _'_ _Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!'_ Rose was just standing there next to her bed, wrapped in a towel with another one on her head for her hair, still a tad bit wet, and there was no where for her to hide until Pauling came.

She heard them enter through the door's to his office, and heard them talking about the mission. They seemed to be in a good mood, which sort of relieved Rose, but then her mind came back to the predicament she was currently in. She heard Medic tell Engineer to hold on for a moment while he checked on Rose, and she saw his feet approach the doors. _'Shit...'_ was the only word that came through her mind, before Medic began to push open the doors.

"Wait, Medic don't go in there yet!" Rose heard a female voice say; it was Pauling!

"Er, vhat? Vhy Miss Pauling?" Medic asked, pausing from opening the door.

"Oh, um because...R-Rose is asleep in there and I have to talk to her privately about a few things before you go in," Pauling said, stumbling at first.

"Uh, but why are you carrying that suitcase then, miss?" Rose heard Engineer asking Miss Pauling.

"That's between me and her," Pauling said. "Just give us a few minutes, okay? Rose will be right out shortly."

"Um, okay," Engie said, a bit confused. "C'mon doc, let's let these ladies have their privacy."

"But ve just got here!" Medic said with a whine. Rose smiled and giggled lightly.

"Just for a few minutes, doc. Right Pauling?" Engineer asked.

"Yes. Just a few," Pauling reassured.

"Bech, fine," Medic said with a huff, and walked away from the door. Rose heard the two men leave, and about a few seconds after, Pauling came in carrying a beige suitcase.

"No way," Rose said in amazement. "Is that…?

"You're suitcase? From the crash?" Pauling finished, "It certainly is." She held up the suit case with a smile.

"But how did you-" Rose began again, grabbing the case from the secretary's hands.

"Let's just say you weren't the first one to scavenge around the plane crash site, and leave it at that," Pauling said bringing her arms down.

"Got it! I'm just glad I have extra clothes," Rose acknowledged. "And thank you so much!"

"Eh, consider it a token of good faith for protecting these mercs," Pauling said softly. Rose looked at her and smiled back, both giving each other a silent exchange of thank you's. "Anyways, I'll let you get dressed. Oh, and I'll take those dirty clothes of yours to get them washed."

Rose turned to grab the dirty garments and handed them to the secretary. Miss Pauling then slung them over her arm, and with a nod turned to leave out the doors. Rose stood there for a quiet moment, smiling and thinking that at least she wasn't the only nice lady here. She then turned to her bed, suitcase still in hand, and brought it on top to open it. Rose popped it open, and was even more relieved to find that everything was there and not scorched in the slightest. Suddenly, Rose heard a whirring in the back of her neck and figured Wheatly was done with his things.

"Oooohh, that was nice!" Wheatly said with a low chuckle. "I definitely needed to do that."  
"So how was your little mini-vacation?" Rose asked as she set out her clothes.

"Very much needed. Did I miss anything while I was gone?" he asked, showing up stretching.

"Oh, nothing really," Rose said.

* * *

After she got dressed and ready, she asked Miss Pauling to have everyone meet her in the garage to show them what she did while they were away. Once everyone was there, Rose stood out by the door to the secret room, and began to gain everyone's attention.

"Hey guys, can I have a quick minute?" she asked. All the men stopped chatting and turned to see what she had to say. "Alright, first off, congrats to protecting Coal Town and coming back with your hides intact." All the guys quietly cheered for each other and some patted others on the back.

"Alright, well while you guys were gone, I had to find some way to keep myself busy, so I built something you guys might actually like," Rose continued. Engineer perked his head up with some curiosity and Rose pulled out a switch with a wire connected to it. As the men looked on in curiosity, she flipped the switch, and the door in the back opened to a dark room. "C'mon in guys!"

The mercs hesitated for a quick moment, then followed her into the dark room. Suddenly there was a flood of light, catching everyone off guard. The guys blinked around to adjust their eyes, and when they were adjusted, their eyes were welcomed with a clean room with white tiles everywhere. Rose was standing in a panel just to the left of the room with a huge smile on her face, eyes filled with excitement.

"This...this is impressive, Rose," Engineer was the first to speak. He looked over to her with a smile.

"It's white room," Heavy stated, "what's so special about white room?"

"Well, let me show you," Rose said, starting up the computer systems and activating the holographic module to set a place. "Let's see...let's go with real-time New York City, Time Square."

The room was suddenly filled with whirrs and whizzing noises, then the lights suddenly began to dim and the room started to change shape. All the men began to tense up, most of them unsure what was happening. Soldier pulled out his shot gun and became defensive along with Demo and Scout. Engineer and Medic just stared in wonder, while everyone else had unsure feelings on their faces. Then the room suddenly filled with loud honking noises and people shouting at one another, and flashes of light became apparent. The mercenaries ended up finding themselves right in the middle of Time Square at night in all its light and glory. There were cars that just passed by them and people walking all around, and one person on their phone ended up walking right through Scout.

"WHOA! What da hell was dat crap?!" the Bostonian yelled, jumping backwards. It seemed that the person wasn't aware of his presence. "Dat person...just walked through me, and didn't even care."

"Well that's because they are just a holographic representation of what's going on in Time Square right now," Rose explained on an over-comm. The mercs looked around confused when a white door of light appeared out of no where and Rose stepped through.

"What is all zhis," Spy asked, looking around at all the lights. He didn't like feeling so open.

"This is a Virtual Reality Training Room. I built it out of all the spare parts from the crashed plane and the carrier," Rose explained. "I built it for the specific purpose for you guys to train in and sharpen your skills for use on the battle field. I was also bored and wanted something to do."

"Heh, and I thought I tinkered on my time off," Engineer laughed.

"But we are already the best men out there," Soldier blurted out. "We do not need some sissy training room!"

"I couldn't agree more, Soldier," Rose said, "but after having a personal run-in with a Spy-bot at the carrier site, and realizing Gray built these bots to the specification to look, act, and fight exactly like you guys, I figured you guys could use something that would give you an upper hand in this war."

"And what would that be, exactly?" Sniper finally said something.

"Better tech," she said curtly.


	10. New Player

**Sorry for the long delay and how short this chapter is, I just wanted to get it out. Gonna try and make sure that the next one won't take so long! Enjoy!**

The Tenth Class

Chapter 10: New Player

"Very interesting," Gray man said as he stood in front of a now blank computer screen, arms crossed behind his back.

He brought up his right arm and snapped his fingers, and not even a moment later a Medic-bot rolled up to his side, awaiting an order.

"What robot was that camera in?" he asked the bot, not turning around.

 _* beep beep * Zhat vas from one of_ _z_ _he near-intact Spy-bots from_ _z_ _he carrier wreckage, Master,_ the Medic-bot said with a bow.

"And that girl? She was the one I saw earlier?" Gray asked, again not moving.

 _*beep boop * Ja, herr Master._

"Hmm," the old man said, bring his arms around to the front and crossing them. "Have you idiots figured out who she is yet?" he reamed, turning to the Medic-bot.

 _* boop beep * Not yet. We cannot confirm facial recognition, sir. No records of her in immediate data bases,_ the Medic-bot said, backing up a bit.

"Ugh, do I have to do _everything_ myself? Move out the way, you scrap heap," Gray said as he made his way off the platform he was standing on. "Send a few Spy-bots to that facility. I'm going to go do some digging."

 _* beep boop beep * Right away, Master!_

* * *

Rose was pretty happy that everyone liked her idea of a VR training room. She walked all the way back to her room with a huge smile on her face as she walked with Medic and Engineer. They were both still talking about all the possible things they could do with something like that, all the scenarios they could go through, and play out possible ideas for future projects.

"Well, don't forget guys, this is basically like the VR Training Room Mk I. It's still a work in progress," Rose interrupted and pointed out.

"Even so, miss! This right here has to be the most exciting thing we've had here since Saxton Hale visited a few months back!" Engineer said with a gleeful expression.

"Saxton...Hale?" Rose said, tilting her head to the side. ' _Where have I heard that name before?'_

"Oh ja! He is zhe one zhat hired us to fight for zhe Mann brothers. Unfortunately, zhey are dead now, so we are technically unemployed," Medic explained.

"Huh, then how-" Rose began, then realized what she saw after she fought the Spy-bot by the carrier wreckage. "Oh! That reminds me, do you guys know that those robots run off of piles of money?"

"Oh heck, haha, we've known that since the first time we fought those mechanical maniacs," Engineer laughed with a wave of his arm. "But how did you find out about it, Rose?"

"Oh well, Wheatly and I were gathering parts for the training room and when we went to the carrier wreckage, there was a Spy-bot that came back online and tried to kill me," she said nonchalant.

"Ah okay then. Wait...a Spy-bot came back online!? And you fought it?" Engineer stopped in his tracks, a bit shocked.

"Are you okay, fraulein?!" Medic asked, also a tad bit shocked that she wasn't the least bit injured.

"What? You guys are acting like taking on a Spy-bot is a big deal. Of course I'm all right," Rose said. She was a bit confused and surprised that they were that concerned about her going up against a bot, but then thought that Engineer was more concerned that it came back online.

"Well, hell Rose. You could've told us," Engineer said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Ja, vhat if you were seriously injured, or more of zhose infernal zhings came back online?" Medic said, equally concerned.

"What was I supposed to do? I wanted to surprise the team with something for being so nice to me, and you guys were already on a mission," she pointed out. Both of the mercs looked at each other, then smiled slightly.

"Vell, zhe important zhing is zhat you are alright, and hopefully zhere won't be anymore robots coming back from zhat site!" Medic gleefully stated.

"That's right!" Engineer chimed in. "But to be on the safe side, we should probably head out there and blow it up a second time."

"Way ahead of you, Engie!" the young woman said, chin held high. "Took care of it after we had gotten the rest of the parts we needed. The two men looked at her, and then at each other.

"But how...know what? Never mind. You seem to be more resourceful than I think we give you credit for, lil' miss," Engineer admitted. Rose just smiled at the two of them. Suddenly Medic gave out a bug yawn.

"Alright zhen. I do believe we all should get some rest if ve are to start doing some training tomorrow, right?" he said while stretching his arms up.

"Hehe, I guess you're right, doc. We could all use a little rest," the Texan said as they continued walking.

"Yeah, good point. I could use some shut-eye," Rose agreed.

They all continued walking together until they reached Medic's office. There, Medic and Rose said goodnight to their Texan friend who started to make his way back down the hallway, and Rose and the doctor made their way to their beds. Once in their room, Rose opened up her suitcase to see if her pajamas were still there, and luckily they were; she pulled out a light gray tank-top and a pair of purple pants that had white, light purple, and light blue poke-a-dots all over. She also pulled out some undergarments, but tucked them under the rest of her clothes so that Medic wouldn't see. _'Pauling came in the nick of time last time,'_ she thought to herself, _'the last thing I need is for anyone to see my laundry.'_ She gathered her clothes together and turned to Medic, who was just starting to take off his over-coat.

"Hey doc, I'll be back. I'm gonna head to the bathrooms to change," Rose said as she made her way to the doors.

Medic looked at her a bit confused for a moment, then realized who he was talking to. "Ah yes! It's times like zhese zhat make me forget that you are a woman!" he said. Rose blushed from both embarrassment and anger, but continued walking. "But zhat is good, fraulein! Ahah, I vill see you vhen you get back!" he waved.

Rose just continued out into the German's office, then paused for a quick sigh. "I hope this doesn't become a thing with everyone," Rose whispered under her breath.

"Oh come on now, Rose," Wheatly said, popping up in front of her and crossing his arms. "You know it will be, just a matter of time that people underestimate you because of your feminine side."

"Oh shut up!" Rose snapped. "Don't even go there with me, pip-squeak."

"Uh – who you calling a pip-squeak, ma'am!" the AI said, obviously offended.

"Don't get your wires crossed, mister. I didn't start this, remember?" Rose stated as she walked out of the office towards the bathrooms.

"Fine. You won this one, but don't expect me to go easy on you next time!" Wheatly said with determination.

"Haha, I look forward too it!" Rose said with a smile.

They both continued down the hallway to the bathrooms in silence. Wheatly disappeared when Rose reached the doors of the bathroom, saying hey would give her some privacy, and she continued in. She quickly got changed, for fear of one of the men walking in on her while she changed, and headed back to her room. She thought of it interesting that she was sharing a room with Medic, when she could have been paired with anyone. _'At least I'm not rooming with Spy,'_ she thought to herself, and sighed. She wondered if they would ever get along, but then remembered what she told herself earlier that day, and went on to thinking about how the VR room can be enhanced and how Pauling told her that they didn't have the money to afford anything that Rose talked about.

She gave a pout when she remembered seeing the money from the Spy-bot and how Engineer never really answered her question about the robots being powered. _'Oh well, I'll ask him about it tomorrow,'_ she figured. Rose walked into Medic's office, and was promptly greeted by Archimedes, one of Medic's pet doves, who flew down on a cabinet next to the door.

"Oh hello Archimedes!" she said to the dove. The dove just cooed and cocked it's head to the left, probably to see her better, then flew off into the raptors of the medical bay. Rose continued on her way to bed. As she walked into the room, she noticed that Medic was at his desk looking at some files instead of being in bed.

"Hey Medic?" said Rose.

"Ja fraulein? Is zhere something wrong?" the German asked, as he looked up with a smile.

"Oh no, everything is fine," she began to say, "I was just wondering how you came to acquire so many doves, and why you still have them? Don't you consider that a health hazard?"

"Oh no not at all!" Medic said with a chuckle, "Although, Archimedes tends to find his way into patients chest cavities, but apart from zhat, I can assure you zhat zhey are quite clean. As to how I came to have zhem, hehe, vell let's just say I stole a catering van for a vedding and zhey had a large amount of zhem stored in zhe back."

"Wait, what? Why'd you do that?" asked Rose, a bit shocked and confused.

"Oh zhat simple. I needed some new pigeon parts for an experiment, and I didn't have zhe money to get zhem from zhe black market," he explained.

"Oh..." Rose said just looking at him with a confused look on her face. "Um, why did you need, wait, never mind. I don't really want to know why." She walked over to her bed and sat down, crossing her legs. "Couldn't you have just used any pigeons?"

"Oh no. I needed ones zhat weren't wrote with diseases of zhe of the outside world, and zhese pigeons for zhe prime ministers wedding were zhe perfect candidates. Plus zhe ones I didn't need I kept as pets!" Medic said with a smile on his face.

"Huh, okay cool. I guess, heh," she responded, laying back in her bed, putting her hands behind her head.

"But I do have a question for you," the German stated, "Where did you learn to build all of zhat stuff? Zhat was a feat of engineering genius zhat would probably put most of Engineers inventions to a bit to shame," he asked, turning to her. "Oh, also, don't tell him I said zhat, hehe."

"Oh I would say it was that great, just some tips and tricks I learned out in the field," Rose said nonchalant. "I just figured you guys could use a bit of an upper hand. Not to mention, if Gray was so smart, he would have better tactical know-how and he wouldn't have built robots to look like the men he was trying to kill."

"Vell you do have a point," he agreed as he rose from his desk. "Zhere's just so many of zhem zhat we have a hard time keeping up at times."

"Well, I hope to change that, too," Rose said with a soft smile. "Anyways, today's been a big day, and I think we should get some rest."

"Couldn't agree more, frau Rose," said Medic. He then got up and undid his tie, putting it on his desk, and removed his shoes.

Rose brought up her covers over her and began to get comfortable. She heard Medic shuffling around as he got ready and smiled, knowing that the future was definitely not going to be dull for her. Medic walked over to his bed and laid down and brought his covers up. He leaned over to his nightstand and reached up to the light that sat atop and was about to turn it off when he paused.

"Rose?" he asked.

"Hmm?"

"Are you really going to stay with us?"

"Of course, Medic," she said reassuringly. She turned over to look at him; he had a look of relief on his face from her response. "If there is one thing you can trust about me is that I never abandon my team."

Medic's face lighted up more as he smiled lightly at her. "Good. It's good to have a new player on zhe field, so to speak."

Rose nodded at him in agreement and turned back over in her bed. Medic turned off the light and laid down on his back. As the rest of the team laid down for the night, ready to get some rest and take on the next day, a hidden danger was on the way to the compound, ready to catch the Tufort Mercenaries, and Rose and Wheatly, off guard.


	11. Surprise!

**Here is the next chapter guys! Hope you all enjoy! This one's longer too!**

The Tenth Class

Chapter 11: Surprise!

The whole base was quiet. The outside flood lights shined bright against the bleak night sky. Everyone was in their bed, fast asleep and in their own dreams, as the night passed on. Demoman was passed out on the poker table in the game room with Soldier and Heavy out on the benches near-by. Down the hall was Pyro's and Scout's room; Pyro was snuggling on his bed next to his flamethrower, and Scout was snoring with a sports magazine on his face and a can of Bonk! in his right hand. Spy was asleep in his smoke room, cozy in his red-velvet arm chair and Sniper was in his loft above the facility keeping an eye out for intruders, even though his eyes yearned for sleep. Engineer was passed out over his workbench, as he was currently working on some improvements to his teleporters, and as for Medic and Rose, they too were sound asleep, completely oblivious to the world around them.

Sniper was just about to take a sip from his coffee mug and swallow another energy pill when he saw a shimmer out of the left of his scope. He froze and looked around the area slowly; the area was the top of the building next to the fence that Rose came through a few days ago. He slowly surveyed the area, keeping a steady hand on his rifle and a steady finger on his trigger, ready to pull at the first sight of trouble. After a few minutes had passed he decided that it was probably an animal passing through, like some had done earlier, and went on to drink some of his coffee.

However, unaware to Sniper, the facility was being breached, as two of Engineers Sentries were taken down near the two metal doors by unseen foes. These things then sneaked into the main rooms, basically taking the same path Rose had taken when she first arrived. The figures then made there way down the hall to Medic's office. Still cloaked, the figures silently slipped into the surgery bay and made there way to the double doors on the right side of the room, where Rose and Medic were sound asleep.

Even though she was asleep, Rose began to feel uneasy in her bed, and began to shift slightly. The movement caused the figures to freeze in place, waiting to see if she got up. Once Rose finished moving and a few seconds of silence passed, the figures slowly made their way to her bed. Two of the figures moved to the foot of her bed, and one moved to the side. The cloaked figure became visible as it held up a butterfly knife, poised and aimed at her back.

As the figure swung down, a butterfly sword had made its way through the front of its chest, causing it to freeze and drop its own weapon. The sword then gave off a high voltage of electricity, making the robotic figure twitch and spazz, and finally it stopped. Rose pulled her sword out of the Spy-bots chest and grabbed the other one that was under her pillow. She looked at the foot of her bed and saw the shimmer of the other two Spy-bots, and quickly kicked her covers off over them to give her a chance to get out of the bed and ready up for a fight. She stood up just as soon as one of the bots pulled a revolver gun n her and took a shot.

"Rose! LOOK OUT!" Whealty warned, but it was too late. The shot was fired and before Rose could react, and she felt a sharp pain in her right shoulder. She stumbled backwards a bit, grabbing her shoulder to try and stay the immediate bleeding and dropping her sword to her side, but then she heard the click of the gun.

Turning to face the bot that shot her, she let go of her wound grabbed the chain that was connected to her left sword and pulled it up into her hands. However, before she could get her arm into position, something whizzed passed her head from behind and planted itself in the Spy-bots head. The machine fell to its knees and fell over, twitching and spazzing like the last one, and then Rose saw what hit it; it was a bone-saw. She turned to see that Medic had gotten out of bed, grabbed his bone-saw from a drawer in his nightstand, and had thrown it just in time. He had an angry look on him as he looked at the bot he took down, brows furrowed and everything; his face lightened, however, when he looked at Rose. He smiled for a quick second and then realized she was wounded and the smile disappeared, but before her could say anything, the last Spy-bot had gotten free of the blanket and was lunging for Rose.

"Rose!" Wheatley had yelled again.

"I KNOW!" she snapped back. As the Spy-bot swung to grab her, she pulled the same move she had before back at the carrier, and ducked, grabbed the bot by the waste and charged it backwards. Unfortunately, she did this with her right shoulder, so a sharp pain ran through her body and she grunted from the sudden shock of pain. She stopped her charge half way and ended up throwing the bot against the wall by her bed and grabbed one of her swords. Without a second to think, she lifted her left arm with her sword, turned on the voltage and thrusted it towards her enemy's head.

What she thought was going to be a sure hit, quickly turned into a failure as the Spy-bot moved its head just in time for the blade the make contact with the wall. She paused in disbelief, breathing heavy, then the bot grabbed the chain the sword was connected to and pulled her in, throwing her off balance. As Rose stumbled forward, she noticed the revolver the other Spy-bot had and had an idea; she grabbed the gun, turned as she was falling, and threw it to Medic. Thankfully he caught the gun, but she ended up stumbling backwards, right into the Spy-bot. The bot quickly grabbed her as tight as it could around her neck and she struggled to get free of it's grasp.

"MEDIC! SHOOT THE BOT!" she yelled at the doctor. He blinked then came to, and held the gun up to their heads.

" _Ha ha ha, make sure you don't miss, dear doctor,_ " the Spy-bot teased him. Medic glared at the robot. " _Because if you miss, you might just have a new cadaver to play with, ha ha ha ha -"_ BANG!

Rose froze and the world around her began to slow down. As she stood still she felt the Spy-bot behind her loosen its grip around her neck and slowly fall to the ground. As it fell Rose turned her head to look as its lifeless body slumped to the ground, and just stood there watching.

"Rose…!" someone called her name in the distance. Was it in the distance, or was she just out of focus. "Rose are you okay…?" the voice said again, this time with a familiar accent. Then she felt a hand grab her left arm, and she turned her head to see who it was; _Medic._

"Rose are you okay? You don't look so good," Medic stated with a very concerned look.

"I...uh...I," Rose stuttered as the world came back into focus. "I, uh….yeah, I'm fine. I just...it's been a while since I had a bullet graze my ear, heh," she tried to shrug off.

"Oh, vell heh, zhat bot didn't really give me much of a choice," he tried to apologize. "Besides, with zhat whole ' _cadaver'_ comment, I just...vell, let's just say those bots can be almost as irritating as the real deal." Medic gave her a calm smile, and she smiled back.

All of a sudden, a sharp pain came back to her right shoulder and she flinched, grabbing her shoulder in pain and grunting. She bent over, realizing that her adrenaline was fading, but Medic was there to catch her in case she fell.

"Come now," Medic said, "Let us go look at zhis gun wound, shall we?" Rose nodded and the two walked out of the room and into the surgical bay.

"Rose, apart from your shoulder wound, I don't see any other medical issues on your person, and I did a security sweep of the area and cannot find any other signs of enemies on the premises," Wheatly informed calmly.

"Thank you, Wheatly. Can you make another scan in about fifteen minutes? I want to make sure no one else is going to give us any nasty surprises," Rose asked.

"Of course, of course," Wheatly said, then went quiet.

Medic and Rose slowly made their way over to the medical bed in the center of the room, and Rose sat on top of it once there. She made herself as comfortable as she could without straining her shoulder even more, while Medic gathered the supplies to pull the bullet out of her shoulder and patch it up. All of a sudden Engineer, Sniper, Scout and Pyro bursted through the doors into the surgical bay, guns at the ready.

"Where they at, fellas?" Engineer said, shotgun in hand.

"Yeah, who's head to we need to smash in?" Scout chimed.

Rose and Medic looked at each other, then smiled. "Well, you guys are a little late," Rose admitted. The four mercs just looked at each other confused. "Yeah, there were three Spy-bots that snuck in and almost killed me, if it weren't for Medic."

"Oh, vell now I'm sure you would have managed," Medic said modestly.

"Maybe, but I would have been more worse for ware, that's for sure," she chuckled.

"Sooo...there's no more threat?" Scout asked, putting down his pistol.

"Not anymore. Sorry Scout," she said with a slight shrug.

"What the hell Engie!?" Scout yelled, punching the Texan on his arm, "You woke us up for nothin'."

"Hey now, there's no need for that kinda attitude, son," Engineer growled. "I heard gunshots and came to grab whoever else was closest!"

"You could've at least checked on them before you decided to wake us up, hardhat!" the young mercenary glared.

"Despite all of that..." Rose spoke up as Medic came to her side, "You guys did a pretty good job of coming to check up and make sure everything was okay." Scout and Engineer looked at the ground, feeling bad for yelling at one another. "And I do think some better security measures need to be put in place, apart from having one sniper who looks like he desperately needs some sleep." She looked at Sniper and he rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish grin.

"Well, how'd you suppose we do something like that?" Engineer asked.

"First off, I have a bullet in my shoulder that Medic is getting ready to pull, so discussing this right now is probably not the best time, right?" Engineer smirked as he nodded. "Okay, and second, everyone still needs some sleep so we will figure it out once everyone has had rest. I would suggest, however, to put up some sentries indoors, to that way if anyone else comes in, they won't notice them right off the bat."

"I'll go take care of that then," the Texan said. "Good night, fellas. Oh, and sorry for wakin' ya, Scout and Pyro."

"Mmmhm mhmm mmmhm," Pyro mummbled.

"Yeah, it's all good, Engie. You were just bein' cautious, I guess," Scout said. Him and Engineer just smiled at one another.

"Alright," Rose began, "That being said, go get some rest, and that goes for you too, Sniper." Sniper smiled and gave a slight nod before disappearing through the double doors. The others followed not long afterward.

"Well, that went well," Rose said.

"It's a good zhing you intervened when you did. I zhought I was going to have another patient to tend to, hehe," Medic laughed, as he sterilized Rose's shoulder wound. She cringed as the disinfectant did its job. "Oh, yes zhis is going to hurt a bit," the German said with a smirk.

"Gee, thanks for the warning, doc," Rose teased. "Nah, I know it's going to hurt. I just want the bullet out."

"Understandable. Now hold still," he said, as he continued on the wound.

"Rose?" Wheatly asked.

"Yeah, did you find anything?" she responded.

"Thankfully no. But I would advise that you take a look at those Spy-bots you two decimated to see if you can find out why they came. After you rest, of course," Wheatly suggested.

"Yup, that was what I was planning on," she said, flinching some more from the pain.

"Hold still, fraulein!" Medic scolded.

"Alright, alright," Rose said trying to stay still through the pain. "Just keep an eye out for anyone else that might try to come in, okay Wheatly?"

"You got it, Rose!" the AI said with gusto. "I will be your night guard!"

"Heh, thanks Wheatly," Rose said.

Rose sat on the surgical bed with relative silence, wincing every once in a while, while Medic patched her up. Once he pulled the bullet out, he turned on his Medi-gun to heal up the torn up tissue and nerves. Once healed, Medic and Rose went back to bed to face the new day and go over with everyone of the events that happened, and why they happened.

* * *

"DAMMIT!" Gray howled, hitting the top of his desk with his fist. "You robots are all useless!"

Gray Mann was sitting at his desk in a big, dimly lit room. The room had a few pictures of bland paintings and steel-shade walls. The floor was a dark wood floor with a dark red carpet leading from two metal doors to Gray's stainless steel desk. A Medic-bot was standing behind him, checking on a device on his his back that was filled with a yellow substance, and a Spy-bot and a Scout-bot were standing in front of his desk.

"It's bad enough that I cannot find a single shred of evidence that this girl exists, but then you imbiciles fail to capture her and bring her here!" Gray yelled at the two bots. He put his head in his hands and sighed.

 _*_ _beep boop* With all due respect, Master,_ the Spy-bot spoke up, _* beep* Why do you even want zhis girl here?_

"Ugh..." Gray sighed again, lifting his head. "As much as it pains me to admit, unlike those brutes Helen calls mercenaries, she poses a bit of a threat. She knows how to take down mass quantities of robots before they can even be dispatched, and apparently knows her way around mechanics."

Gray stood up and waved the Medic-bot away. As the bot wheeled away, he made his way around his desk and leaned up against the front of it. "What's even more curious is why she is there, and why than mad-woman even considered keeping her there? That's why I want her brought to the island, so I can interrogate her, and see if I can find out if she knows anything of the old woman's plans."

* _beep da boop* And you're sure she would be so easy to catch and interrogate, Master?_ The scout bot asked.

"Hmm, not anymore. This is going to require a bit more resources and know-how," Gray said, walking over to the giant window panels behind his desk. "For now, though? We'll just watch and wait. Gather our own information."

* * *

"So what was with all that racket last night, Rose?"

Rose looked up from staring at her coffee to see Ms. Pauling standing in front of her. The assistant was dressed in the same looking uniform when she first met her, and was holding a clip board in one hand and a pen in the other, but this time she had a bit of a worried look on her face. It took Rose a minute to process what Pauling had asked, since she was basically up all night after the attack; after Medic pulled the bullet out of her shoulder and healed her with his Medi-gun, her arm was still a bit sore and she couldn't sleep through the pain. Not to mention the events of last night still kept resurfacing in her mind, and she couldn't put away the question that they were going to discuss that morning: _why_?

"Oh, just had an intrusion is all," Rose said nonchalant.

"Just an intrusion?" Pauling said, looking at her over the rims of her glasses. "And you're not worried about that at all? Since it primarily happened to you and Medic?"

"Look Pauling, apologies if I'm a bit short right now," Rose began, "But as you can see, I am _pretty_ exhausted from what happened last night, and by the sounds of it, you already know what happened. So if you don't mind, I'm gonna finish my terrible coffee, and then I will go over everything in..."

"I _do_ mind," Pauling interrupted, slamming her palm on the table. "It's my responsibility to take care of this facility and the mercenaries protecting it. And if there is an intrusion, which there was, I need to know details. Every little detail."

There was a moment of silence between the to women. Rose looked at Pauling with an exhausted look, while Pauling kept glaring at her, waiting for a response. Rose then stood up, picked up her coffee mug that apparently was Engineer's (it said _-1 3 Eng._ ) that he let her borrow, and looked Pauling straight in the eyes. "We are having a meeting in five minutes to discuss the events that took place last night and why they happened. I was going to go find you before it started, but here you are. Now you know," Rose said curtly.

"Oh," the assistant said with an apologetic look on her face as she backed off. "Well, thank you for letting me know, Rose. I'm sorry for being so short with you."

""Meh," Rose said, "Just next time be a little bit more open-minded before you jump the gun on things, please?"

"Of course, of course," she agreed. "So should we...get going then?"

"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute, just lemme finish this coffee."

"Okay, just don't take too long. I'm sure Medic's side of the story will cover most of what happened, but we will still need you to confirm." Rose nodded at the assistant, and he petite woman walked out of the game room, leaving Rose to finish her drink.

"Well, that could have certainly gone better," Wheatly spoke up as soon as Ms. Pauling was out of earshot.

"Yeah well, what did you expect?" Rose asked. "I mean, you've met her boss. Not exactly the nicest lady around here." She took a sip of her coffee. "Ew, whoever made this did a pretty crappy job."

"Probably Demo I would assume," the AI answered. "Anyways, like you said, she could have been a little bit more patient and let you explain that we were all going to go over it."

"Yeah, but the way I see it is I could have made the situation worse by being rude in return, and I don't have the energy for that right now," she said, walking over to the sink and pouring out the disgusting liquid someone mistook for coffee. "Regardless, we should probably make out way over to the conference room. I'm eager to get this over with."

"Why? So you can get to the bottom of it?" Wheatly asked.

"Psh no. I need a nap."

Everyone had gathered for the meeting, some more tired than others and trying not to fall asleep as Medic and Rose explained in detail what happened last night. Demo was barely keeping his eye open, as he was coming off a massive hang-over, and Scout and Engineer seemed to be just as tired as Rose was. Sniper had a bag or two under his eyes, but luckily no one could rightly tell since he was wearing his aviator sunglasses to hide how tired he really was.

"So basically after everyone left, Medic continued to work on my wound and pull out the bullet that was so nicely bestowed upon me by one of those damn Spy-bots," Rose finished explaining.

"Hmm, okay then," Ms. Pauling "And you have no idea why they went for you to begin with?"

"Nope. That's what Medic and I were gonna try and figure out after this meeting," Rose explained. "The bodies are still in our room."

"Well have Engineer and Spy go with you to help, and then come get me right away if you find anything," Pauling instructed. "The rest of you, either go get some rest or do...whatever." With that, Ms. Pauling left the room first, which gave the signal to everyone else that the meeting was over.

One by one they all filed out of the conference room, some of them going back to bed and the rest going down to the game room while Rose, Medic, Spy and Engineer made their way to the medical bay to check out the robot bodies that laid there in Medic and Rose's room. Most of the way there the group walked in silence, until Engineer spoke up to break the silence.

"So um, what exactly are we lookin' for, fellas?" he asked, putting his hands in his overalls.

"Well," Rose began, "we need to find anything that can give us a clue as to why they attacked, like something holding a command code, like a chip or small box, or even a letter or something, _anything._ "

"Okay, I think I know what you're talking about," Engineer said.

They reached the doors to the medical bay and went through. The surgical table still had a few spots of blood on it from Medic pulling out the bullet in Rose's shoulder. They were too tired last night to clean up a huge deal so they just left everything and picked up anything big. The group came up on the doors leading into their room and paused.

"Alright, remember guys we are looking for anything that can tell us what these bots were doing here," Rose reminded the group. As everyone dispersed to each of the bots, Wheatly wanted to ask Rose a question privately.

"I can understand why Medic and Engineer had to come along, but why Spy?" he asked in a hushed tone.

"Because all of these bots are based off of these mercs, so it makes sense to bring Spy along since these bots basically think the same way he does," Rose said softly.

"Ah okay. Now that makes sense."

"Why do you think Ms. Pauling wanted him to come, Wheatly?" she asked.

"Oh I don't know, maybe just because she wanted him to," he answered.

"Seriously? Just because?"

"What? It's not like I know the woman, or any of her motives, or anything really."

"Still, you're better than that. You almost always give a decent reason for your assumptions," she scolded.

"Alright, miss nosey-pants. Maybe it's because I think that she thinks Spy should help you out some instead of misjudging you all the time," the AI explained reluctantly.

"See? Now was that so hard?" Rose teased.

"Yes. Yes it was," Wheatly began to tease back. "That was such a traumatizing experience that I think I might need to go to therapy for just living through it."

"Well it's a good thing I'm a licensed therapist," she pointed out.

"Oh shut-up," Whealty said. "I wouldn't want to go to anyways. You would just tell me I'm exaggerating anyways."

"Yeah, probably. You do tend to do that, you know," she teased again.

"Let me reiterate; oh shut-up," he said. Rose just giggled softly and began helping the others search for clues.

For at least 27 minutes the five of them looked over every inch of the room and the broken bots but couldn't find a single scrap of evidence as to why they came. For a few moments the speculated and pondered, nothing actually sticking however. As the group left the room, Engineer asked Rose if he could take a crack at the VR room and try it out, and she gave him permission saying he didn't need to ask, but just to let her know when. She also told the group she would let Ms. Pauling know they didn't come up with any physical evidence, but would go over the speculations they talked about. The group then went there separate ways, taking it easy for the rest of the day, hoping that there wouldn't be anymore surprises anytime soon.


	12. Secrets

The Tenth Class

Chapter 12: Secrets

It was a few days since the night-time attack from Gray by a few Spy-bots. The team had been sent on another mission to save a gravel site from being taken by the old man, and Rose was once again left on her own at the Mannworks facility. Once she found out they went to a place called Big Rock, Rose decided to educate herself on how many sites Mann Co. actually owns and which ones have been targeted so far to try and see a pattern. She got Mannworks, Coal Town and Big Rock cleared off so far, but that's all the ones she knew, because those three were the only ones she knew Gray has attacked. Then some questions arose in her mind.

"Wheatly?" she asked.

"Yeah, Rose? What's up?" he responded.

"I've been thinking a lot about the places that Gray has attacked, so I could find a pattern and try and see where he might head to next, but then a big question arose," she explained.

Rose had found a slightly beat-up cork board and set it up next to the foot of her bed in her and Medic's room. She had also found pictures of the three facilities that she knew had been attacked and was in the process of writing notes down while sitting on her bed.

"Yeah? And what question might that be?" Wheatly asked in return.

"Why?" she asked.

"Wait, what do you mean 'why'."

"Well, we know that the Mann brothers owned gravel workshops, right?"

"Yeah..."

"And that Gray killed them to try and do a hostile takeover..."

"Yeaah…?"

"So why would he just kill his brothers in cold blood, just for some measly gravel company? I mean it's not like you can do anything with gravel anymore, at least nothing important."

"Hmm, I guess you have a good point there," Wheatly stated, "I guess that would be something to go over with Ms. Pauling."

"Yeah, I'm not so sure about that," Rose said with hesitation in her voice. "I mean it's not that I don't trust her, it's that I don't trust that woman she works for."

"But doesn't that she work for they Mann...oh wait, she's technically unemployed too, right?" Wheatly concluded.

"Exactly! So why even bother fighting back?" Rose said, getting out of her bed with her notebook in hand. "There is something more important than those two are letting on, and I feel like these men are just being used."

"Well, they are mercenaries, right? Doesn't that just come with the territory?" Wheatly asked.

"Not really. I mean not in this type of a situation," Rose began to explain. "I mean, this is basically a territorial war, and normally mercenaries aren't caught up in a war, they just get paid for contracts."

"Right. Like we were for a time," the AI added.

"Exactly. And do you remember us being caught up in any type of war, territorial or otherwise?" she asked, now pacing in the room.

"No, not really," he answered.

"Then why are these men different? Why are these areas being targeted? The three that have been targeted so far are just gravel workshops..." she trailed off, "or are they?" She stopped in front of her cork board and looked at the pictures.

"Rose? What are you thinking?"

"That there is a lot more going on here than anyone except Pauling and the administrator are letting on," Rose stated plainly. "And I don't think they are going to give me the answers I am looking for."

"Then what are you going to do?" asked Wheatly.

"Hmmm. I think I am just going to play it simple for now until I can gather more pieces."

"I think that's a good plan," Wheatly agreed.

"Wheatly, I want you to keep your ears open for anything that might help answer some of these questions. Right now I think I am just going to ask Pauling for info on any facilities that Gray has attacked prior, and see if she'll help with sorting out how to catch him next."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Well it's the only one I have right now. If we want to try and stay one step ahead of Gray, as a team might I add, then we need to try and know his pattern," Rose explained.

"Huh, again, good point," he confessed, "Well just give me a shout if you need me. I'll keep an open ear and eye out for anything to help with your questions, Rose."

"Thanks. Now time for the hard part," she said, closing her notebook and putting it underneath the bedding of her bed, then walked out the room. "To go ask Ms. Pauling for help."

* * *

Rose had to call Ms. Pauling through an intercom in the medical room and asked her if she could go over some things about the attack the other night in person. To her surprise Pauling agreed to help her and they both agreed to meet in her and Medic's room to go over details and brainstorm. Rose went back in her room and waited for a few minutes before she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Rose yelled from in front of the cork board. The door opened to show the mousy assistant walk in, carrying a few folders and notebooks and pushing up her glasses.

"What did you find out?" the young woman asked Rose as she put all of her things on Medic's desk to her left.

"Well, nothing concrete," Rose began, "I still am not sure of the motive of the bots, but I was wondering if we could talk about any other places Gray might have hit with his robot army that you guys have had to defend."

Pauling paused, a serious look coming over her face. "Why – why would you want to know any of that?" she asked with hesitation.

"Oh, because if we look at what he's already attacked, maybe we can find a pattern as to where he'll go next, and from there beat him to the punch-line," Rose explained calmly. Ms. Pauling stood still for a moment, thinking over what Rose had proposed.

"Hmm, you know, I thought you had something about the bots that attacked you the other night," she stated, looking at Rose with a stern look.

"Apart from the fact that they're nothing but scrap metal know," Rose said, walking over to her bed, "Oh but I did ask Engineer when he get's back if he could salvage anything from the two Spy-bots that still had in-tact heads, to see if he can find a black box of some sort."

"Well, that's a start," the assistant said with a sigh, "But we won't know anything until they get back."

"And that's why I wanted to discuss trying to figure out Gray's attack plan while we waited," Rose persisted. Pauling gave a small sigh.

"Well...you do have a point..." Ms. Pauling admitted.

"And if we are going to have any chance at winning this war, we need to work as a team, and trust one another," Rose stated calmly.

"We?" Pauling said with a smile.

"Yes, 'we'," the merc repeated. "Remember? I'm here for better or for worse." The two women stood there, looking at one another; Rose had a calm look about her, ready to get the show on the road, and Ms. Pauling's face had a stern look to it, as if she was thinking carefully what words she was going to say next.

"Alright, fair enough," Pauling finally said. "So what have you found out so far?" Pauling walked over to her bed and they both sat down as Rose pulled out some pictures and notes. "Y'know, we really need to work on getting you an actual bed, instead of this gurney. Especially since you are going to be here for a while."

"That would be very nice," Wheatly said, popping up in between the two ladies.

"Well it's about time you showed up," Rose teased.

"Hey you try to run a multitude of programs inside someone else' head!" he said, crossing his holographic arms.

"Oh you poor thing," Pauling joined in, "Would you like me to get you some cheese with that wine?"

"Hey! I use that line all the time! Ha!" Rose said with a chuckle.

"Fine! I see how it is. I'm not going to stand here to get double-teamed!" Wheatly said, turning around and sticking his nose up in the air.

"Oh come on now, Wheatly. We're just teasing," said Rose with a softer tone.

"I don't believe you," Wheatly said curtly.

"She's right," Pauling added. "We could definitely use your help, Wheatly."

He turned his head slightly to look and see Rose and Pauling giving puppy-dog eyes. "Ugh," he huffed, "how can I say 'no' to faces like that?"

"Nice!" Rose said, raising her hand up for Pauling to high-five. Pauling looked at it awkwardly at first, realizing she's not used to interaction like that, but then smiled and high-fived her hand. The two women smiled and immediately began to work on trying to find out Gray's attack plan, hoping to find something they can use to get an upper-hand.

* * *

"Okay, what do we have so far?" Rose said as she rubbed her eyes. Her and Ms. Pauling had been in her room for at least six hours trying to figure out a pattern that Gray could be using for his attacks, so that way they could try and plan ahead of him. They had been through at least three pots of Sniper's terrible coffee, along with some anti-sleep medicine Medic had hidden away in a box marked ' _Black Market Drugs,_ ' to which Wheatly was concerned if it was a good idea to take.

"Well, we know that he has attacked a place we call Isolation, then here, Mannworks, then Bigrock, and now Coal Town," Pauling responded after taking a sip of coffee and making a wincing face at how it tasted.

"Right, now what do all these places have in common?" Rose asked.

"Well, they are all owned by Mann Co., they are all gravel factories, aaand…." Pauling trailed off.

"C'mon, Pauling. That can't seriously be it," Rose pushed. "There are, what did you tell me? That there are a total of 306 plants, office buildings, warehouses, and outlet mall in the Badlands _alone_? And he has only managed to hit these specific areas?" Rose lifted her head from her notebook on her bed to see Pauling facing away from her, head down like she was in deep thought. "Ms. Pauling?"

"Hngh," she moaned, and quickly walked over to a panel next to Medic's bed that was painted over. She opened the panel and started messing with the wires inside.

"What is she doing?" Wheatly whispered to Rose; she just shrugged and allowed the assistant to continue. Then, she suddenly stopped and turned to Rose and looked her dead in the eye.

"Okay, I don't know if it's the drugs, or the coffee, or the fact it's almost two in the morning, or maybe a combination of all three, but what I'm about to tell you is _**incredibly important and cannot leave this room**_ **.** Understood?" she said strictly.

"You got it Pauling," Rose agreed.

"Okay," she said as she took a deep breath and headed over to the bed and sat down next to Rose. "The one thing these places have in common is a very rare alloy called _Australium._ And before you ask, let me explain.

"Australium was founded in, well obviously, Australia. Matter of fact, it's what has helped give them their strength and allowed them to reach the level of technology they have achieved thus far," Pauling paused, and gave a nervous look around the room, then continued, "It also has the ability to extend one's life-span across hundreds of years."

Rose just blinked and looked over at Wheatly, who just shrugged back. "So what does this have to do with Gray?"

"Well, and mind you some of this is only a little speculation on my part, but the Administrator has had the two Mann brother fight against one another for decades, just so she could stock-pile all of it and distribute it all throughout most of the things Mann Co. owns. Gray has attacked these places because he knows that these places have the biggest cahes. And he wants them. _**Bad**_ ," Pauling emphasized.

"But _why?"_ Rose pushed. She was getting a little frustrated that Pauling wasn't getting to the point, but she realized why she was over at that panel; so the administrator wouldn't listen in.

"Didn't you just here what I said? What power Australium holds? Imagine what could happen if Gray got his hands on all of it?" Ms. Pauling said.

"And you think giving it all to a manipulative old woman is any better?" Rose responded curtly. The assistant just paused with a confused look on her face.

"Excuse me?" she said, a bit baffled.

"The one thing about Gray is that he isn't hiding who he is. He isn't manipulating these men to do what he wants while he pulls the strings. The fact that you had to shut down whatever listening device the Administrator has in this room just to tell me this, proves to me that she can't do anything without using fear," Rose stated.

"I'm not afraid -" Pauling started to defend herself.

"You might not be, at least not consciously. But you didn't want her listening, did you?" Pauling just looked at the floor. "If anything, that Australium should be being use to help the world, not two old megalomaniacs who have some hidden beef with one another."

"You don't understand -"Pauling began again.

"Probably not," Rose interrupted, "But I know when I'm being played and used." Then Rose began to make her way to the door.

"Where are you going?!" Pauling demanded.

"I'm going out for some fresh air," she said opening the door. "Don't worry, though. You're _secret_ is safe. I just need to go calm down."

Then Rose rushed out the door before Ms. Pauling could say anything. She rushed out of the medical bay and towards the front doors. She went through the left one, the same one she snuck through during her break-in, and walked all the way out to the open area the team had stood at to take down the robot carrier. Once there, she just stood there with her hands on her hips and looked up at the left over wreckage of the carrier. Then she looked down and saw a small rock at her feet, then kicked in the direction of the carrier with enough force that it cleared all the rocks and fences leading up to it. She put her hands back on her hips and closed her eyes with her head down.

After a few moments of silence, Wheatly's voice broke her concentration. "Are you...are you alright, Rose?"

"Ugh..." she sighed, choosing her words carefully so as to not snap at her companion for no reason, "no, not really."

"Wanna talk about it?" he asked.

"Hmm, probably not right now," she said calmly. "I think I just need to calm down before I talk about this some more."

"Okay then," he began. "Well, I'm always here, you know."

"I know."

There was one more moment of silence before the AI spoke up again. "I understand why you exploded, but you know she was only trying to help."

"I know. That's why I left."

"Hmm...and you're gonna go back, right?"

"Of course. We still have a job to do."

"Right…." Wheatly trailed off. "You...do know it's not her fault?" he said, trying be on Ms. Pauling's side.

"It is if she wants to help," Rose said plainly. "But...if she doesn't have very many options, then I know how she feels." She remember back to her days at Apature, and how unhappy being there was. After a short moment more of thinking, she slowly started to make her way back to the building.

"And you're going to apologize too, right?" Wheatly suggested.

"Don't push it pal," she said.

"Oh no. I'm not. Just saying," he defended himself, acting as if it wasn't a suggestion at all.

"Hmph," Rose snorted with a light smile.

As Rose walked back into her room, she saw Ms. Pauling standing over Medic's desk looking at his files as if she was interested. When she heard the doors close she looked over and saw Rose, and was about to say something before Rose intervened.

"Look," Rose began, "I know how it feels to be used, and lied to, and treated like shit. And that's something I won't stand for..." Pauling stood up straight, letting her go on, "but like I said earlier, we are a team. And I appreciate you sharing all of that information with me. Aaand...I apologize for going off on you the way I did." A short quiet moment passed before Pauling spoke up.

"It's okay, Rose," she said. "I understand that you don't agree with what's going on, and _I_ appreciate the fact that you took a minute to cool down, instead of blowing up about the whole thing. But I do think that...you are something this team needs, _desperately._ "

"What do you mean by that?" Rose asked.

"Well, I mean look what you have done for everyone so far. You've given them a better way of fighting back, and a better way for them to spend their time when not on the battle field," the assistant pointed out. "You are a breath of fresh air to these guys, and I think with your help, we are going to go far."

"Heh, thanks Pauling," Rose said with a gentle smile. "Well, now that that's said and done, want to get back to work?"

"You bet!" Ms. Pauling said.

And with that, the two women began talking and going over battle plans as to where they were going to focus defenses at certain places. The two continued to work until late at night, where they decided to save the rest for when the mercs got back from Coal Town so they could fill them in. Rose knew that she wasn't allowed to share the information Pauling shared with her, so she told the assistant to let her handle the explanations and for her to go over the battle plans with the team. They both agreed to this, and then headed off to bed, ready to take on the next day. Little did they know, however, that someone else had plans of their own.


	13. Unexpected Plans

**Hey guys, hope you all are enjoying the story so far! I am really enjoying writing it! Anyways, as always, reviews are always welcome and what not! I also think having no set schedule works best for me, since I tend to forget, so I will just be uploading whenever I get the chance to. But don't worry! I will make sure that you guys shouldn't have to wait longer that about three weeks for each chapter! So yeah, here's chapter 13, and I hope you guys enjoy!**

The Tenth Class

Chapter 13: Unexpected Plans

Rose was fast asleep on her bed, still in her clothes from yesterday, sleeping on her notebook that was open to her notes. The whole base was quiet with the mercenaries still being gone at Coal Town, defending it from Gray, and the only sounds were the animals outside and the doves in Medic's office. It was almost ten in the morning when Archimedes, Medic's favorite and most mischievous dove decided to fly down to Rose's bed and peck at her. She was laying on her stomach, with one arm under her notebook and the other one laying at her side. The dove landed on the middle of her back and started walking towards her head, all the while lightly pecking her back.

Rose moved for a moment, but not being noticeably bothered by the bird on her back. Archimedes continued to make his way slowly up her back and made it to her head, where he then proceeded to viciously peck at her hair.

"chgh huh…?" Rose snorted as she woke up from the pecking and rubbed the back of her head. "What the hell...is that?" She felt the dove's hard beak peck her fingers, and she quickly recoiled them. "Ow! Okay okay, I'm up Archimedes!"

She then slowly began to sit up and rub her eyes as the bird flew down and landed next to her, cocking his head from side to side to get a good look at her. Her medium short-cut, dirty blonde hair was a bit tangled on one side, and she had a bit of drool plastered to her left cheek. With barely open eyes, she looked around the room until her eyes landed on the dove sitting next to her, and just staring at her.

"Yeah, I know. I look like crap," she said with a huff. Rose then began to move off of her bed and went to her suitcase at the edge of her bed and pulled out her brush, while she wiped the saliva off of her face. While she started brushing, she walked out to the medical bay and walked over to a tray that was laying next to the surgical bed, picked it up, and held it up as she brushed her hair back. Once all the way back, she pulled it together to form a pony-tail and pulled her hair tie off of her wrist and finished her hair.

She then looked down to see what she was wearing, not realizing she slept in the clothes she wore the day before and decided to change. She was currently wearing a pair of jean shorts, with white socks on and a red tank top shirt, nothing on it. She walked back into the room and pulled out her jeans and red t-shirt she wore on her first day here, noticing that they had a few small tears on them that were patched up. She smiled at the clothes as she began to get dressed, thankful that no one decided to kill her right off the bat when she first arrived. It took a few minutes for her to officially change and once the had the proper attire on, she found her sneakers under her bed, put them on, and put on her green camouflage baseball cap on.

 _"Cooo..."_ Archimedes cooed at her when she finished.

"Aw, thank you Archimedes," she said, pretending like the bird was talking to her. "I appreciate the compliment."

"Now we're talking to animals, Rose?" a familiar voice said. Seconds later Wheatly popped up, standing nice and straight with his arms behind his back and a mischievous smile on his face.

"No, stop that," Rose said, shaking a finger.

"Stop what?" he said, his smile getting bigger.

"It's too early for your crap. Haven't even had coffee yet," Rose teased.

"Oh well that certainly does explain a lot. Yes I see..." he said, adjusting his holographic glasses.

"Shut up," she said with a giggle. She walked out the doors of the medical bay, heading to the recreation room that was one floor below.

"So when is everyone else supposed to get her?" Wheatly asked.

"Pauling said something last night about them coming in around lunchtime. Apparently there were more bots than they were expecting at Big Rock, so they ended up staying longer than planned," Rose said.

"Ah, guess we forgot to add bigger numbers in the waves went we sent them off, huh?" the AI pointed out.

"Yeah, next time we need to take that, and anything we get from the reports into consideration before they head out again," she responded plainly. "We can't risk anything now that Gray is sending more of his bots."

"Agreed. And I'll be sure to keep notes," Wheatly said. "Oi! I almost forgot, you're halfway done with your house arrest!"

"Hey! You're right, Wheatly! I only have about month left until I get to go with the team on missions! Awesome!" Rose exclaimed with excitement.

"I would wager you're pretty stoked about getting to have some fun, huh?" Wheatly said with another smug grin on his face.

"Dude, you have no idea. Aside from that night we had a few guests, I have been a tad bit bored, and there's only so much I can do from here to help them on the front lines," she stated.

"Well, you _have_ been a little busy trying to get some things figured out, that I'm pretty sure you've forgotten about the VR," Wheatly pointed out.

"No, I haven't forgotten. It's just that every time I remembered and was about to go down there something important would surface, and then I'd get distracted," she explained.

"Uh-huh, sure you would," he teased some more.

"Hey, didn't I say stop it?"

"Oh ho, I'm sorry mother," he continued. "But I guess it's a good thing you didn't make _'no-sarcasm-in-the-mornings'_ a rule or anything"

"Don't push your luck, buddy," she said with a smile.

"Excuse me, my name isn't _'buddy.'_ It's Wheatly, and I don't think we've met yet, Miss Grouch," Wheatly continued to tease.

"Oh my god, Wheatly!" she laughed. "Enough, I surrender, just let me have my coffee before you berate me with your _amazing_ comebacks."

"Eh, I guess," he said with a shrug.

They both laughed as Rose made her way down the stairs to the recreation room. It was a few doors before the stairs that led down to the garage. She stopped at the door and did a quick stretch, realizing that she didn't do her morning stretches, then walked in the door thinking that she could just do them later after breakfast. Rose then walked straight to the counter near the back wall that had a microwave a small sink with a few dirty dishes, a toaster, and a coffee maker. Above the toaster was a warning sign that read ' _Don't teleport bread!_ ' The first time Rose saw this she asked Engineer what it was for one day and all he told her was that it was a long 78 hours.

She walked over to the coffee machine and grabbed the pot to fill it water. She began the whole process of making coffee, and while it was brewing she grabbed a few pieces of bread to make some toast with, as well as some butter and grape jelly from the fridge. A few minutes passed and she was finishing her toast up when the coffee machine beeped at her, telling her it was done. Rose then grabbed a coffee mug from the cupboards and filled it with coffee, and then quickly doused it with cream and sugar. With her cup of coffee and toast in hand, Rose made it over to the table and sat down to begin eating her breakfast. As she put the first piece of toast in her mouth she heard the garage door down the hall open, and the familiar voices of the mercs.

"I thought you said that they wouldn't be here until around noon..." Wheatly said.

With the piece of toast in her mouth, she looked around for a clock and realized that it was about a quarter till noon. "Holy crap," Rose said as she took the bread out of her mouth, "I didn't realize that I slept in so late!"

"Well you and Ms. Pauling did have a late night last night," the AI stated.

"Yeah, but still..." Rose said, now cramming her food in her mouth. Once finished, she blew on her coffee and carefully took a few sips, knowing full and well that it was still very hot. She then began to hear the mercs come closer to the doors, hearing them talk about random things.

The first ones through the doors were Scout and Heavy, followed by Demoman, Pyro, Sniper, Engineer and Medic, Soldier and lastly Spy. All the men piled in, looking worse for wear, while Rose just quietly sat at the back table with her coffee, analyzing the looks on their faces and the movements of their bodies, deciding that it would be best just to keep quiet. Then Medic saw Rose sitting at the back table, and his mood changed as he made his way over to the table. Engineer followed with his eyes for a second to see where his colleague was going, then his mood changed as well, following Medic to go sit with Rose.

"Schönen tag, fräulein!" Medic said in a cheerful tone.

"Heya there, Miss Rose," Engie chimed.

"Hey guys," Rose said, "how did the mission go?"

"Vell..."Medic began as the two sat down, "it could have gone better."

"Hmm?" the young woman said, tilting her head in confusion.

"What he means, Rose, is that we won, but just barely," the Texan explained.

"What all happened?" she asked.

"Zhere vere so many robots," the German said. "And zhe carrier was too far away from zhe defense point zhat zhe weapons you modified couldn't reach it."

"Hmm, I guess I didn't take that into account. But I figured at some point he would start more bots at you guys," Rose stated. "Now we just need to figure out a solution to that problem."

"Well what about the carrier being too far away?" Engineer asked.

"We can't really do anything about that," she pointed out. "If it's too far then it's too far. We will just have to make sure to defend the point."

"Zhere has to be a better vay, zhough," Medic said. The three became quiet as they thought. A few minutes had passed and Rose had come up with an idea, but before she could say anything, Soldier slammed his hands on the table in between Engineer and Medic. "I HAVE AN IDEA!" he shouted. All the mercs in the room froze and turned to Soldier, some with not-so-surprised looks on their faces.

"Um, okay, what's your idea, Soldier?" Rose asked carefully. Soldier went to the other side of Engineer and sat down. He looked around at the others, who at this point kept going about their business, then turned his attention to Rose.

"I can make my own base! One that that wrinkled old fart would have to come and try to destroy! Because that's what he does!" the war-dog exclaimed. Rose gave a nervous glance over to Medic and Engineer. Medic lightly shrugged in return and Engineer took off his hard hat, which exposed his bald head.

"Look Soldier, as much as I'm sure you'd like to do that, I just don't think..." Engineer trailed off as the smile began to slowly disappear from Soldier's face. "Uh – what I mean is that I don't think you should do it alone is all, heh heh."

"Hoora!" Soldier yelled.

"But why do you want to go through all the trouble of making a fake base for Gray to attack in the first place?" Rose asked, slightly intrigued by this idea.

"Simple," Soldier began to explain. "he is a stupid old man. And building a false base for him to attack would cause significant casualties in his ranks."

The three of them just looked in amazement at Soldier's amazing and coherent idea. Then Rose broke the silence, "Wow, Soldier….that's...that's actually a great plan."

"Yeah, that just might work, fella," Engineer agreed.

"Well, the only problem is getting Ms. Pauling to agree to it to begin with," Wheatly spoke up, coming into view in the middle of the table. Soldier sat up straight with attention and the AIs presence, feeling suddenly uncomfortable and nervous. He looked at everyone else and noticed that they weren't cringing at the sight of the little, shinny man, so he tried to play it off cool.

"Oh I'm not worried about that," Rose stated with a light smile. "Especially after what we talked about last night."

"Vait, you and Ms. Pauling _talked_?" Medic said, again surprised along with Engineer.

"Yeah. Well I kinda forced her too because I was trying to figure out a pattern to Gray's attacks and tried to see if we couldn't block him off at the next attack," she explained. "We came up with a plan, but it's not as concrete as we would like. I do, however, really like the idea you came up with Soldier."

"Thank you. I know I am the best," he replied.

"Yeah, anyways, I'll let Pauling know right away about the idea while you guys are getting some rest. Oh and after you guys are good and ready, I have some training exercises in mind that we can run through the VR before you head off to your next mission."

"Zhat sounds very good, Rose!" Medic said with a beaming smile.

"Alright, then it's settled," the Texan concluded. "Just let us know when you're good and ready, ma'am."

"Oh I will. But it'll only be a few of you going in at a time. I don't think the computer can hold a whole lot at a time right now while running an actual exercise," she explained while getting up from her seat. "Either way though, I will let you guys know after I talk with Pauling."

The three mercs nodded as she began to make her way out of the recreation room and out the doors. Once in the hall, Rose noticed a speaker near the end of the hall next to the stairs and began to make her way to it. But before she take her first step, Medic came out of the doors and stopped to talk her.

"Um Rose? May I speak vith you for just a moment?" he asked, a bit timidly.

"Sure Medic. What's up?" she asked in return.

"Oh um, in private?" he asked, nodding to Wheatly.

"Oh okay fine. I know when I'm not wanted. I'll just power down for a few," he jested.

"Thank you, Wheatly," Rose thanked. With a smile and a nod, Wheatly disappeared. "So what's up doc?"

"Heh, cleaver..." he chuckled, "I just vanted to zhank you personally for all you have done for zhis team. I know a lot of us won't zhank you for your contributions, so I figured I vould speak for all of us."

"Oh well, you're quite welcome then, Medic," Rose replied as humbly as she could. "I just saw some people in need of an extra hand, and thought it would be best to help out."

"So are you really going to stay vith us zhen?" he asked, now with a more soft expression on his face.

"Well, I plan on staying as long as I am wanted," the young woman replied with a nod.

"Ah zhat is good! Having you hear certainly has been a breath of fresh air to say zhe least!"

"I'm glad to hear that, Medic," Rose said. "Now, is there anything else you wanted to talk about while we have this private time?"  
"I uh…vell, actually...um, no not really," he stumbled, looking down at the floor and adjusting his glasses on his face.

Rose gave a light smile as she put her hands on her hips near her pockets. She suddenly felt cold metal coming out of her right side pocket and remembered that her switch-blade was in there; the one Medic gave her on her first day. Her smile grew a bit more and she looked at Medic, who was still apparently still looking at the floor.

"Are you sure you don't have anything else to tell me?" she prodded.

"Um, vell..." he looked around nervously. Then his face lit up with an idea. "Oh ja! I vas going to ask you if you vanted to join me in another experiment today? After I get some rest of course."

Rose's face lit up as well, remembering how interesting her first one with him was. "Sure! And while you're resting, I can talk to Pauling and then get the VR room set up with some training exercises."

"Wunderbar! Zhen I shall see you in a few hours!" the German exclaimed with a smile.

"You bet! No go get some rest man, you're gonna need it!" Rose said. Medic gave a nod and began to quickly make his way to his room. After a moment of silence, Wheatly appeared in front of her face.

"Just to let you know, I heard the whole thing," he said, crossing his arms.

"Yeah I figured you would," she said, making her way to the speaker near the stairs.

"I also noticed a change in your body heat while you were talking to..." Wheatly began.

"Okay, don't need to go into anything. Just reliving old memories," Rose interrupted, defending herself.

"Oh-ho I am going to give you so much crap for this!" he said with a mischievous grin.

"Okay okay, but can you at least wait until we get a plan going for the next mission?" she asked.

"Hmmm, fine I guess," he said with a huff.

"Thank you." Rose made it to the speaker and hit the page button. A few moments had passed before she heard a familiar female voice come through.

"You got Miss Pauling," the assistant said sternly.

"Hey Pauling, it's Rose," she responded.

"Oh hey Rose! What's up?" Miss Pauling asked.

"Well, I think we might have a good idea on our hands. One that we can use to buy us time and make Gray waste his resources," Rose explained.

"Oh really? Huh, and what might this idea be?" the woman on the speaker asked.

"Well, Soldier came up to me and-" Rose was cut short when Miss Pauling interrupted her.

"Wait, wait, wait….Soldier? Was this an idea that came from Soldier?" she said with disbelief.

"Uh, yeah…? What's the issue? I mean I know he might have a screw loose..."

"Try a whole box full," Wheatly muttered.

"BUT," Rose said sharply, "Hey actually made a good point. He had the idea of making a fake base that we could trick Gray into attacking if we spin it right. If he does, then we were right about our assumption last night, and he loses a good number of bots." Rose finished explaining and waited for a response. After a moment of silence, Rose checked to see if Miss Pauling was listening. "Um, hey Pauling? You still there?"

"Uh y-yeah hold on," the assistant said, almost as if she were talking to someone else on her end. Rose waited for about a moment longer, thinking of who she could possibly be talking to on the her end, when the speaker sounded with life. "Okay, um, that's actually a really great plan! Actually….huh, and you say Soldier came up with it?"

"Yeah he did!" Rose said with a big grin. "I know, it surprised me just as much as you!"

"Well okay then, I think that sounds good! Go let him and Engineer know, and have them get ready. You guys are going to move out first thing tomorrow morning," Miss Pauling instructed.

"Great! I'll go let them know and – wait – did you say 'you guys' as in me too?" Rose asked, freezing in her spot, heart beat elevating in hopes that Miss Pauling meant what she said.

"Heheh, yes I did! The Administrator has noticed the work you have been putting into the team with helping against Gray, that she basically cut your house arrest in half, and wants you to go on the next mission to oversee it!" Miss Pauling explained.

Rose froze, expression completely blank, next to the speaker. "Um Rose?" Miss Pauling said, and before she could go on, Rose jumped up and down with excitement.

"YEEEAAHHHH SON! I GET TO GO ON A MISSION!" Rose shouted with as much excitement as she could muster!

"Alright Rose, calm down, haha," Miss Pauling said. "Go and get Soldier and Engineer and let them know."

"Okay, okay….whew…I got this," Rose said, trying to calm down. "EEEEeeheeheehee!" she squealed as she jumped over to the doors leading to the rec room. Once there she composed herself enough to be able to walk through the doors and head straight for the table the two mercs were still sitting at.

"Hey, uh Rose, you okay?" Scout asked as she walked passed. "We heard some shoutin' comin' from the hallway."

Rose stopped and looked at Scout, and also noticed that everyone else was looking as well, some with lightly concerned looks. "Oh haha, yeah everything is just fine!" she reassured everyone. "Just got a little excited over an idea I just had." She then continued her way over to the table and immediately sat right next to Engineer. She noticed that Soldier took Medic's spot at the table, so having them sit together would make it easier for her to talk to them without having to raise her voice.

"Hey, hey guys! I have some great news!" Rose said. Engineer and Soldier both looked at her, eagerly waiting to see what she had to say. "Okay so Pauling said that Soldier's idea was a good one and that that's what we are going to do!"

"Hooray!" Soldier exclaimed, raising his arms in the air for victory.

"Buuuut, that's not all," she continued.

"Well what else is there?" Engineer asked.

"Okay, she wants you and Soldier to go so to start building the base first thing in the morning, aaaaaaand..." she paused, building up the tension, "I get to go with you!" she squealed lightly as to not attract attention.

"Well I'll be damned! That _is_ great news, Rose!" Engineer said happily, patting her on the back.

"I know! I'm super stoked!" she said.

"Heh heh heh, I bet you are! I know I would be!" Engineer said, still with a giant grin on his face.

"Question," Soldier said.

"What's yer question Soldier?" the Texan asked.

"Why is no one else enjoying this glorious and patriotic news?" he said plainly, looking out to the rest of the mercs.

"Huh, yeah, why is that Rose?"

"Well, I think I ran away in excitement too fast, but I don't think the rest of the team would enjoy our idea the same," she explained, glancing over towards Spy and Sniper.

"Hmm, yeah that makes sense," Engineer said. "Heh, come to think of it, that's probably more true than you realize miss."

"So then it's settled. The three of us will go to the coordinates given and start building a fake base first thing in the morning," Rose stated.

"Right. Is there anythin' else we need to know?" the Texan asked, before getting up.

"Mmmm, nope. Pauling already has everything else under control so all we have to do is build the base," Rose answered.

"Men, we have a base to build!" Soldier stated as he jumped from his chair to attention.

"Right, let's go get some rest guys!" Rose said. "We're gonna need it!"

The three then left the table and headed to their rooms to get ready for the big day ahead of them. As Rose made her way to her room alone, Wheatly spoke up.

"Ahem," he coughed. "I do think you should have told them what you and Miss Pauling were planning to do."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean that you should have told them how you were going to get Gray to the fake base in the first place," he explained.

"I couldn't, and you know that. Plus they didn't ask why," Rose said. "But if they did, I might tell them but in my own way."

"Ah, I see. Well I suppose that's a good enough answer," he said. "But I can tell you're excited about all this, though."

"You better freakin' believe I'm excited about this!" she exclaimed with excitement. "I don't think I have been excited about this for a while!"

As they were talking about the mission, Rose made it to the double doors that led into the medical bay and went in, making a beeline for the doors leading to her's and Medic's room. Before she barged in, though, she remembered that Medic was resting and decided it would be best to go in as quietly as possible. But when she peaked her head through the door, she saw the doctor at his desk next to the door, working diligently on his paperwork. When he noticed the door opening, he looked up and began to smile lightly as Rose walked in the door.

"Hey, doc," Rose greeted. "I thought you were going to get some rest?"

"Oh I vas, but zhen I remembered zhat I have some papers to go over before I forget to zhem...again," he said with a sigh at the end.

"Again?" Rose asked as she sat on her bed.

"Yes, vell, ever since your arrival, I have been getting a little distracted lately vith other zhings and have become a bit of a scatter-brain to say zhe least," he explained.

"Oh, well I'm sorry, Medic," she said softly.

"Oh no need to be sorry, fräulein. It's not your fault," he said reassuringly.

"Still..." she said. She looked down at the floor for a quick second, and then remembered the news she was given today. "Oh! But on a brighter note, I get to go on a mission tomorrow!" She waved her arms in the air in excitement.

"Zhat's wunderbar! You got off house arrest early zhen I assume?" he said standing up in excitement.

"You bet your sweet bippy I did! I cannot tell you how excited I am to finally get out and do something!" she said, flinging herself back on her bed.

"Vhat mission are you going on?" Medic asked.

"Oh well you know that idea Soldier had?" Medic nodded. "Well, after you left, I talked to Pauling and she said that it was a good idea, and that she wanted Engineer, Soldier and I to go and build a fake base to have Gray attack."

"Oh zhat is vonderful news!" he said with a big smile. "But eh…just you zhree?" Smile slowly fading.

"Well, that I'm actually not sure about," she said. "I'd have to clarify with Pauling to make sure just us, but I know some of the team would want to actually go on building mission."

"Heh, zhat is a fair point," he chuckled.

"But hey, it shouldn't take us more than a day or two so we won't be gone long if it is just the three of us," Rose reassured. Anyways, you should probably finish your paper work and get some rest. I still wanted to do an experiment with you later on today!"

"Hahaha, oh very vell zhen!" Medic said with a slight bow to tease. "Just a few more zhings and zhen I shall get some rest."

"Good! And while you do that, I'm going to go mess around with the VR room," Rose said as she began to make her way out of the room again. "Just holler at me when you're all rested up, 'kay doc?"

Medic gave a nod, and Rose went out the doors and on her way to the VR room. The rest of the day was relatively quiet, with Rose creating and uploading different scenarios into the VR and planning out ones her and the rest of the team can try out once she gets back. Every time she thinks about going on the mission, she got a big smile on her face. She realized that she hasn't been this happy to go on a mission for a while, and she tried to figure out why. Maybe she finally found a home...of sorts. It may not be the most conventional place to call home, but she hadn't felt this normal around a group of people for a good long time.

Regardless of how she felt, in the back of her mind she knew that the future would hold many obstacles, and she knew that no matter what they were, she would have to have the whole team behind her in order to succeed. These men might be mercenaries, but to her, they seemed more like a family than they would like to admit.


	14. On the Road Again

The Tenth Class

Chapter 14: On the Road Again

"Uggghh are we there yet?" Rose whined.

"Heehee, I told you ten minutes ago, well be there soon, miss," Engineer said with a chuckle as Rose leaned her head out the window. A voice from the back of Engineer's pick-up truck sounded out a second later.

"Attention maggots: are we there yet?!" Soldier yelled out. Rose gave out a small giggle and looked to Engineer, who was just shaking his head. The Texan rolled his window the rest of the way down.

"Not yet, Soldier," Engineer said, almost leaning his own head out the window.

"Boo..." Soldier moaned as he plopped down in the bed of the truck. Engineer just shook his head with a light smile and continued to focus on the road ahead.

"So where is this place we're going to be building this base anyways, Engie?" Rose asked. She felt like a good conversation would help pass the time. "Pauling didn't tell me much other than that its further south from the mountains and where we are currently stationed."

"Well, that's about the just of it, miss," he said, not taking his eyes off the road. "She gave me some coordinates, and told me it was supposed to be a mining facility, but that the fellas there didn' find nothin'."

"Huh. Well at least we'll be able to turn it into something useful," Rose said. "And she said the rest of the team would meet us out there once we are done, right?"

"Yes, ma'am! She'll check up on us, though, so we won't get too lonely," he reassured her.

"Because getting lonely is going to be one of our greatest problems," Wheatly chimed, popping up and illuminating the rest of the cabin.

"Well duh, I mean it's only going to be the three of us," Rose teased.

"Heeey, what about me, huh?" Wheatly whined, crossing his arms.

"Meh, I guess you'd count too, hehe" Rose continued teasing with a smile.

"Oh ho, I see where this is going," the AI said, shaking a finger at Rose.

"Do you?" she asked.

"Well, of course!"

"Oh yeah? Then where is this going?"

"Well, it's going...um...it's going to…." Wheatly trailed off, his macho demeanor suddenly fading.

"Hahahaha! Oh calm down, Wheatly," Rose laughed. "I'm only kidding! I would never leave you out of anything."

"Yeah, I know you wouldn't," he said with a smile. "Anyways, I'm going to run through possible schematics that we could use when we get to our destination."

"Wait, how are you going to do that?" Rose asked, "We don't even know what this place looks like."

"Oh, chk, duh Wheatly! I almost forgot to tell you that Miss Pauling sent me pictures of the place!" Wheatly said, pretending to slap himself in the head.

"Well thanks for lettin' us know, partner," Engineer started to tease.

"Oh don't you start too, mister!" the AI said curtly, staring down the Texan. Engineer just chuckled and Wheatly gave a soft smile, then turned back to Rose. "Anyways, just holler at me when we get there, yeah?"

Rose and Engineer nodded to him, and he disappeared. The cab became silent again as the two just sat and watched as the road below them passed by. After a moment had passed, Rose looked into the bed of the truck to see Soldier playing with the two grenades that would normally hang off the strap on his chest, a rocket launcher that he called the "Air Strike," sitting next to him. Near the back of the bed, there were multiple building supplies, toolboxes, and a few bags for crafting and other things the three would need for this mission, along with what they had brought for weapons.

The three had left earlier that day at the break of dawn, but Rose had packed all of her stuff the night before due to her excitement, and decided it would be best to take her bag full of goodies that she had when she crashed. Her pack was sitting between her legs on the floor of the passenger side of the cab; it contained her chained butterfly swords, her night-vision goggles, her multi-tool, binoclulars, the switch blade knife Medic gave her, along with a few medicinal items he gave her in case of emergencies. The pack also had a few things of food to snack on, even though they packed a cooler of food for the trip and what not.

"I can't wait to see you guys in action, though," Rose said, breaking the silence.

Engineer glanced over at her for a second before looking back to the road, and smiled. "Same here miss. Medic told me about that night you two were attacked. Said you were on top of the situation, well, for most of it anyways, heh," he said.

Rose looked down, feeling a bit disappointed in herself. "Yeah...I guess. Just wish I could have been _more_ on top of the situation. I don't like feeling helpless..." she said with sadness in her tone.

"Hey now, you did yer best! I mean, it was in the middle of the night after all," Engineer said, trying to cheer her up a bit. "I'm surprised you were able to do as much damage as ya did."

Rose looked at the Texan, and smiled at him softly. "Thanks, Engie."

"Anytime, miss," he said with a nod.

"Attention maggots: I am bored as hell! That is all!" Soldier shouted from the back. Rose and Engineer laughed for a short minute at the war dog's statement.

"Heh, I guess we should pull over for a bit. I know I could stretch my legs a bit," Rose said, giving off a small stretch in her arms, raising them over her head and stretching her back.

"Yeah, I guess yer right. Wouldn't want to get too cramped before we get there," Engineer agreed.

He then began to slow down and pull his red pick-up to the side of the road, almost until the whole truck was completely off the road. Once stopped, Rose immediately jumped out of the truck and stood up as straight as she could while she stretched. Soldier jumped out of the back and dropped to the ground, doing a few push-ups as Engineer slowly made his way out of his side of the truck and walked over to the two as they continued to limber themselves up.

"Hey Engie, we should probably break out something to eat. It's almost lunch and I didn't really have much to eat before we left," Rose suggested as she finished stretching.

Soldier jumped up from the ground and smiled at her idea. "I second that, maggots! My stomach is screaming for food to shoved in it!"

"Okay, okay. That actually sounds like a good idea, too," Engineer said, putting up his hands. "Yer just on a roll, ain'tcha miss?"

The two just laughed as Soldier gave them a curious look, but then shook it away as the three made their way to the back of the truck. They ate for about an hour, talking and laughing while they rested, then Engineer decided it was time for them to get back on the road in order to make it to their destination before nightfall. The others agreed and piled back in the truck, but this time Rose said she'd drive while Engineer could take a nap and rest up for the next stretch. He didn't argue and decided to sit in the passenger seat, and Soldier didn't mind sitting in the bed again. The two men ended up napping all the while Rose drove, and she made sure not to wake up Engineer as she asked Wheatly for directions when she needed them.

Rose drove for quite a few hours until she started to get a bit drowsy. The scenery had changed from green hills with flush trees, to brown hills with sand and many types of desert bushes, scarce with trees. Engineer began to wake up from his long nap, and sat up straight with a stretch and yawned. Rose glanced over, pleased that he was able to get the rest he needed, hoping Soldier got the same.

"Sleep well?" Rose asked, staying focused on the road.

"I sure did!" he said with a big smile. "You ready to switch out yet?"

"You better freakin' believe I am!" she said.

"Hahaha, I can tell. You look a bit worse for wear," he teased.

"Well, driving in a baren wasteland can do that to you," she teased back. She started to slowly pull the truck over to the side of the road . Once stopped, Rose got out first and stretched again, rubbing her eyes from looking at nothing for so long. She heard the door on the other side open and close, and decided to look in the bed to see how Soldier was doing. She walked over a few feet and peered over to see the war dog cuddling up next to his rocket launcher. Rose let out a little giggle, but then stifled it quickly as to not wake him up.

"What's so fun...oh, heh wow," Wheatly said, letting out a short chuckle.

"Shh!" Rose hushed softly. "Be quiet! And don't make fun of him! I think it's a bit adorable..."

"Psh, hehe if you say so, Rose," Wheatly came up shrugging. "Anyways, we are almost to our destination. About two or three more hours and you guys can start hammering away!"

"Hnk chnk, I WILL HAMMER YOUR FACE INTO MY BOOT YOU COMMIE BASTARD!" Soldier screamed as he sat up suddenly from his nap. Rose and Wheatly froze, scared looks on their faces, and Engineer slowly leaned over to see what was going on. Soldier quickly looked around for a quick minute and when he realized that he wasn't in any immediate danger, he looked over to see Rose and Wheatly still staring at him, now with worried looks on their faces. "Oh, hello Miss Rose! Are we there yet?"

"Pfff hahahaha!" Engineer bellowed. Rose and Wheatly looked at one another for a second, and Rose almost busted out laughing but put her hands over her mouth to keep her from being too loud.

"Um, hmhmm," Wheatly cleared his throat, "Um we are not there yet, Soldier. Did...did you sleep well?"

"I did sleep great, shinny hippie man! Thanks for noticing!" Soldier said as he stood up and hopped out of the bed next to Rose and Wheatly. The AI gave him a stern look.

"Ugh, Soldier I'm not-" Wheatly began.

"Hey Engie! Are you hungry? I'm pretty hungry? Who else is hungry?!" Rose interrupted.

"I am very hungry!" Soldier chimed.

"Heh, I hear that, fella!" Engineer agreed. They all started to make their way back to the back to grab another bite to eat.

"Seriously?" Wheatly said, giving Rose a disapproving look.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said, trying to give her most believable poker face.

"I mean..." the AI gave a short sigh, "Alright, you win this round." Rose just gave a satisfying smile as she came up to the back.

The three began to pull out some food, and Engineer pulled out a blanket for them to sit on while they ate their dinner as the sun came close to setting. After about half an hour of eating and telling jokes, the three decided it was time to finish their journey. They all piled into the truck again, Engineer driving, Rose back in the passenger seat, and Soldier still wanting to sit in the bed, and with no time at all they were back on the road, energized and ready to start building. After a few moments of silence, Rose thought it would be a good idea to go over the contents of her pack again, just to make sure she had everything she needed. She pulled it up and the first thing she pulled out were her swords and set them to her side.

Engineer looked down at them for a moment before he said anything. "So Rose?" he asked.

"Hmm?" she replied, looking up at him from her sack.

"If you don't mind me askin', why swords?" he asked. She looked down at her swords, smiled, and then looked back at him.

"Well, don't be mistaken," Rose began. "Give me a gun, and I can be just as deadly, but I've always had a thing for sharp objects. I like getting up close and personal, I guess."

"Huh, that kinda sounds like something Spy would say," the Texan said.

"Well, there's more to it but I don't really want to ruin the mood with something creepy," Rose said. "And by creepy, I mean something very deep that I wouldn't want to get into right now."

"Huh, then it's a good thing I second guess askin'," Engineer said. "Think that's a discussion for another time." Rose nodded as she turned her attention back to her pack.

Rose continued to mentally note all of the things in her sack, when Engineer gave out a low chuckle. Rose looked up at him with a confused look. "What's up?"

"Heh, oh nothin'," he said. "Just rememberin' the looks on y'alls' faces when Soldier woke up." Rose shot him a quick glaring look, but then softened when she realized how she and her companion actually looked. She then let out a small giggle.

"Heh, yeah, I just wasn't expecting that kind of an out-burst," she confessed. "Does he do that often?"

"More than you know, miss," he said. "Most of the time, when he thinks somethin' ain't goin' his way, he'll take it out on Scout than anything."

"Wait, what? Why?" Rose asked, a bit concerned.

"Oh it's nothing serious, Scout's just normally the one closest to him when it happens," Engineer casually explained.

"Oh...okay," Rose said. She slowly continued with messing around the contents of her pack and the two became silent.

After what seemed like forever, the three finally came up to their destination. It had jut turned to night, with the glow of the setting sun in front of them, and the stars above. It was a full moon night, so they were able to see the few buildings, but not much was there.

"Well, we sure do have some work ahead of us," Rose said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, but I don't think we have the energy to start right now, miss," Engineer said.

"I couldn't agree more," she said. "We should at least unpack, and then we can rest up for the rest of the night."

"Sounds like a plan, ma'am," Engineer said, as he made his way back to the truck. The others followed right behind.

The three started to unload the truck and placing everything down near the entrance of the actual mine. There were some sturdy buildings near the entrance along with a bridge connecting the gap between the buildings. As they started putting things down and setting up their beds, Rose looked around, already getting ideas on what to set up and where, as well as where the best defensive points were. Before they left, Rose had the idea to use Engineer's teleporters to transport all of the actual building materials, instead of shoving all of them into the back of his truck and not have room for the three of them. Engineer had set down the tool box that held the receiving teleporter next to where they were sleeping so when they got up, he could go set it down immediately. After a few minutes of unloading, the three were finally ready to call it a night.

* * *

"UP AND AT EM', MAGGOTS! IT'S TIME TO KICK SOME ROBOTIC ASS!" Soldier yelled, his face mere inches from the others. The two sat up straight, screaming at the sudden noise, but Rose was so startled that she ended up punching Soldier in the face so hard he went flying backwards.

"OOOOOoooohh...oh, OH DEAR! Soldier I am so so sorry!" Rose said, feeling nothing but guilt when she realized she wasn't in danger. "I didn't realize it was you!" She got up to check on the war dog, but when she went over to him, he had a huge smile on his face, along with a bloody nose.

"HAHAHAHA! That was the best punch my face has had for a long time!" Soldier exclaimed.

"Seriously? That's all he had to say?" Wheatly said, careful that no one else but Rose heard him.

"Oh hush," she said to the AI. She stood back up and held her right arm for Soldier to grab, and pulled him up. "Still, sorry about that Soldier. Still in defensive mode when I sleep ever since that one night."

"That's okay, Miss Rose," Soldier said, adjusting his helmet. "A punch in the face is a good way to wake up in the morning!"

"Um, yeah. Anyways...we should go ahead and power up your teleporter, Engineer," she turned to Engineer. She then walked over to her bag and pulled out a watch and put it on her left wrist. "We could get a head start on building. Wheatly, do you still have the blueprints we need?"

"Well duh," he started to tease.

"Nope. No time for sass right now, mister," she scolded. "We have a job to do right now, and I need my AI."

"Oh alright. Yes I do have the blueprints," Wheatly said with a bit more professional tone. Then a holographic map popped up in front of the crew, that showed the current state of the soon-to-be-base they were in.

"Woah, how are ya managin' that, Rose?" Engineer said, currently holding his toolbox with the teleporter.

"Oh heh, I forgot to mention that I have been tweaking a watch that I found in Medic's office. I asked him if I could tinker with it some and said yeah, so it's been kind of a side project," Rose explained. "It's basically the same tech from the VR training room, just smaller."

"Holy smokes," Engineer said. "So that projection is coming from that there watch?"

"Yup!" Rose said with a smile. "Now where were we...oh yeah! Wheatly, go ahead and show the first part of our building expedition, please."

"Can do!" the AI cheerfully complied. The project twitched a bit as it changed to show what they needed to add.

"Okay, currently there are just these small building here on each side of the entrance along with the bridge connecting them both. There is also a small hallway just past the bridge leading under the building to the back of the of the building," Rose explained, pointing away at the hologram. "We are going to add on to these buildings, building up on the one to the left of the entrance..."

"Wait, with one do you consider left?" Engineer aksed.

"Oh, look at it as if you are facing the entrance to the mine," she stated.

"Ah, okay I gotcha'," he said, allowing her to continue.

"Once we are done with these two side buildings, well start moving on to this center building that will wet right behind them," the holograph changed to add in a building in the center of the map, just past the two bigger buildings and the bridge. "We will also build a ramp right behind the bigger building on the left, and that will lead to the this small cliff that is on the left edge of the map. As you can see, the cliff eventually slopes off itself, leading to this big open area, but I'll get to that in a moment.

"The building here in the center is where we will hold most of our defenses, so it needs to be the sturdiest. Past it we will nave two bridges gaping this little ravine to the wide area in the back. And don't worry if you fall down there, there is a little ramp leading back up to the start of the right bridge. Finally, we have the open area in the back..." the holograph changed one more time to show two buildings on each side of the open area. "These two building area basically the two that will house our supplies and allow us to add on any upgrades that come our way..."

"Just like it has before," Engineer added.

"Yeah, not sure how you guys do that, but I'm sure you can explain it to me later," she said. Engineer nodded to her. "We also have the real-but-actuall-fake bomb entrance that the bots will obviously try and get to. We need to make sure they stay away for as long as it takes to run Gray down with his stupid robots." She pause to look at the two mercs; Engineer looked like he got it all down and was ready to go, but Soldier had the most confused look on his face. "Uh, did you get all that Soldier?"

"Uh….yeeah..." he grunted. Rose smiled, knowing that he was just trying to prove that he didn't actually get any of what was just said.

"Heh, don't worry, Soldier. Rose n' I are here if you have any questions along the way," Engineer said, patting him on the back. The war dog smiled, and stood up straight, waiting for his orders.

"Okay, so what we'll do is just make our way back. Engineer, go ahead and start up your teleporter and let Pauling know we are ready for our first shipment. Soldier, you go ahead and go with him and help carry the stuff back to the middle of the bridge. I'll go look for any structural weaknesses that we might have to look out for, then come join you two for the building. Sound good?" The two men nodded in agreement. "Okay, then let's get to work guys!"

With that the three were off to their respective duties. Soldier and Engineer went to set up the teleporter in the building off to the left, while Rose and Wheatly went to go check for any bad structural weaknesses that the building that were already there might have. It took the two mercs about twenty-three minutes to get the portal up and running and to start moving supplies in. About the same time had passed for Rose after she started and she made her way to the two to help bring in supplies. With all three of them, it took about two hours to get all the supplies.

After everything was moved out and put it the places they were going to build, Rose decided that it would be a good time to get something to eat, since they didn't get the chance earlier that morning. Soldier and Engineer agreed and the trio decided to sit down for a bit and eat some of the food the had packed up. Once fed and relaxed enough, they got straight back to work; much to Roses surprise, they worked rather fast in building everything, and it took almost no time at all to get the two decoy buildings up near the front all done before they began working on the center building. All the while, the one that continued getting injured the most was Soldier, but only because he really wanted to build up this base.

Lunch time came around, and they were about half way done with the center building when they started to get hungry. Again, they all agreed to sit down for some food and rest, and while they were eating Rose had suggested that they take a nap to regenerate some energy. The only one who gave a bit of a fuss was Soldier, but after some talking, Engineer and Rose were able to convince him that it would be beneficial and they could probably work harder after they woke up.

An hour had passed the the trio was back in the right building napping, when Soldier decided he was done napping. He got up and walked over to Rose and Engineer, who were still sleeping, and decided to wake them up again, forgetting what had happened to him earlier that day. Slowly and quietly, with a smirk grin, he got close, but not too close before Rose pulled out one of her swords from under her pillow and pointed it at him while she was still laying down.

"Don't. Even. Think about it," she warned with a deathly tone. Soldier stopped dead, looked at the sword, then putting his head down like a child that had just gotten their favorite toy taken away, he turned around and slowly walked back over to his sleeping bag. "We'll get up in half an hour Soldier."

"Heh heh," Engineer softly chuckled, still laying down.

Soldier got back to his bed and lied back down awake, waiting for his teammates to get up. Suddenly, he sat up, looked out one of the doorways of the building to the halfway done center building, and a mischievous grin grew across his face. He looked over at the others, as it seemed they fell back asleep, and quietly stood back up and left the building.

Rose woke up to distant banging noises and wondered what could possibly be making that noise. "Hng...what…Wheatly, how long did we sleep?" she asked, slowly getting up and rubbing her eyes.

"Well, after being woken up by Soldier, 'bout and hour and a half," Wheatly said. "You two slept pretty hard."

"What! I told Soldier half and hour! Wheatly?!" she scolded, "Why didn't you wake us up!"

"I didn't want to interrupt your perfect snoring with the reminder of work!" he fussed.

"Seriously?" she said, crawling out of her sleeping bag towards the sleeping Texan. "Know what? Never mind, I'll reem you later. Engie….Engie wake up. We over slept."

Engineer tossed over to see who was disturbing his sleep. He stil had his goggles on, so it was hard for Rose to tell if he was still sleeping, but after a moment of not moving, she nudged him harder to try and wake him up. After the first few nudges he finally woke up. "Alright alright, I'm up, doggone-it!" he snarled. "What is it?"

"We over slept..." she trailed off as she looked over to Soldier's bed and saw he wasn't there. "And Soldier isn't here…."

"Wha – what do ya mean he ain't here?" the Texan asked as he sat up to see for himself. He was going to say something, but was cut off by the sound of a drill whirring. "What in the world…?"

The two got up, straitened themselves out and walked out to see what the commotion was about. The sun was staring them right in the eyes, and Rose squinted to see where the noise was coming from when her jaw dropped, Engineer not to far behind in doing the same. They looked and say that the center building was already up and that the bridge on the right side had already been completed as well. The two looked at each other in amazement and decided to find their dedicated friend.

The went around the building and saw that their friend was hard at work on the left building in the clear back area, already having the foundation set and ready. Rose and Engineer made their way to him, noting that even the left bridge was done, and as she passed the back of the center building, noticed that there was the word "Roof," and an arrow in white point up the back ramp to the roof of the building. Amazed that the old war dog was able to accomplish so much in so little time, she continued walking with Engineer to go help Soldier.

Once across the bridge and next to the building, Rose and Engineer stopped to admire the commando's energy and dedication to make this plan happen. "Hey Soldier! How did you do all of this man?" Rose shouted to get his attention. He stopped hammering some nails into a wall he put up on the far side of the building and looked to see who was talking. Seeing that his two fellow mercenaries had finally woken up, he smiled, dropped the hammer and ran to greet them.

"Hello, maggots! I have built a building! And painted words!" he said, still smiling.

"We see that," Rose said, looking around. "Well, would you like some help then?" Soldier looked around, and seeing that he still had a bit to go, he turned to Rose and Engineer and nodded. The other two began helping and in no time they had the left building done and ready.

They started to work on the right building and had it done in a few hours, with a few minor distractions along the way. The sun was starting to slowly set and the trio were almost done with the right building and the place that the robots could drop their payload. Once done, they had one more meal and rested before deciding to move on to the next phase of the mission. The three made their way back to the teleporter and their beds, and before she layed down, Rose had to make a call.

"Well, I think it's time to let her know," Rose said, grabbing her pack and pulling out a flip phone.

"It's a little late to be doin' that now, don'tcha think?" Engineer said, taking off his yellow hard hat and setting it next to him.

"Nope. We need to be ready first thing in the morning," she replied.

"Well alrighty then," he said as he and Soldier lied down for the night.

Rose smiled, then started typing the numbers that Ms. Pauling had told her to use when calling her when things were finished on their end. She dialed, and there was a long wait as the phone rang before there was finally a pick-up on the other end.

"Rose?" the assistant asked.

"Pauling, we're ready."


	15. Fight!

The Tenth Class

Chapter 15: Fight!

The sun was starting to come over the ridge above the entrance to the mine as the three mercenaries began to pack up their sleeping bags and began to get themselves ready for when the rest of the team showed up. They lugged their supplies and bags to the back buildings to stow away until their battle with Gray Mann and his robots was finished.

The three made their way back to the bridge near the beginning of the mine and started up the teleporter. The small red contraption began to whiz and whir as it started up and once it was fully spinning, it emitted a light, circular, red glow and a low hum as it spun. After a few minutes, the machine began to glow brighter and light suddenly exploded as someone had come through. Rose, Engineer and Soldier looked up and saw that Medic was the first one through the teleporter, standing at the ready as he looked around.

He was wearing his white doctors coat and red rubber gloves, and had what Rose assumed was a portable version of his Medi-gun that she saw so many times in the medical bay. The doctor looked around to see his surroundings when his eyes came across his teammates, and a big smile came to his face.

"Ah guten Morgen, everyone!" he said as he stepped off the teleporter and walked towards the other three. "I see zhat your task was successful!"

"Yup, it sure was!" Engineer said first. "A lot of it was thanks to Soldier, though."

"Oh?" the German said quizzically.

"Yeah, when we all laid down after lunch yesterday, Soldier woke up first and went straight back to work," Rose began to explain. "When we finally woke up, we saw that Soldier was quite busy and basically got most of the base done himself."

"Guess he really wants to fight Gray," Wheatly chimed in. Soldier just smiled and tilted his helmet as a sign on thanks.

Suddenly, the teleporter began lighting up again and another burst of light gave way to Heavy standing on the teleporter this time. He looked around, much like Medic did before, and then saw his teammates standing together. The giant man grinned and slowly made his way over, his mini-gun in hand.

"Sasha and Heavy are ready to fight metal babies," the large Russian stated, lifting his mini-gun and starting to spin it up.

"Don't you worry, big fella'," Engineer said, waving. "You'll have plenty of bots to kill here soon enough."

Rose scooted closer to Engineer and leaned her head to whisper to him. "He named his gun Sasha?" she asked.

"Hehe oh yeah. Scout teases him every now and then, saying he'll take her out for a steak dinner, and other non-sense like that," Engineer said with a light chuckle.

"Ah...okay?" Rose said standing back up straight.

The mercenaries were standing and waiting for the rest of the team to show up when Rose heard her phone ring from her pack and made her way over to answer it. She opened up her pack and pulled out the phone she used last night, and answered it.

"You got Rose," she stated simply, in case it wasn't who she was explecting.

"Rose, it's Pauling," a female voice spoke up on the other end.

"Oh hey Pauling. I was wondering when you were going to call," Rose greeted. "How are things on your end?"

"Great. All the mercs are almost to your side and it looks like Gray is on the move to your location, so his bots should be their within the hour," the assistant explained.

"Wow, that was fast," Rose said, genuinely surprised. "Guess he doesn't want to waste any time, huh?"

"Guess not," Pauling said. "Anyways Spy and Demoman should be the last two to come through and they are bringing the two EMP weapons for you if you need them."

"Awesome! I'm actually hoping this will be a little easy," Rose said, turning to see Scout and Pyro already hear and Sniper just coming off the teleporter.

"Same here," Pauling agreed. "Hey Rose?"

"Yeah, what's up Pauling?" Rose asked.

"Keep our guys safe, okay?"

Rose paused, and looked at all the guys, who were smiling and who looked excited to fight. She smiled softly and turned back around. "I promise."

"Hmm. Thanks, Rose. And good luck," Pauling said softly. The assistant then hung up and Rose put the phone back in her pack, and before she put it on her back, she pulled out her butterfly swords and looked at her hilt; she brushed her thumb on the button that would send an electrical charge through her blades, allowing her to deal some electrical damage to anyone unfortunate enough to be on the end of them. She pulled out her chain that she could connect the two of them with, rolled it up like rope and slung it over her head to let it hang across her chest.

Rose also pulled out a desert camo bowie knife, sheathed in a black leather case with a strap that she could put around her calf. She strapped it on and continued to go through her pack. The next thing she pulled out was a bag of small black earpieces that she brought for the team in case some were on the other side of the base. "Wheatly, when I say, can you set up a private channel for these earpieces so the team can communicate?" she asked her AI.

"Oh y-yes! Of course Rose!" he said. "Um, were you going to give Scout an earpiece, or do you just want me to channel the one he already has?"

"Channel his. I knew he had his own so I only brought enough for the others and myself," Rose explained, walking over to the group. As she made her way over, Spy was the last mercenary to go through the teleporter and was carrying Pyro's Phlogistinator. She looked around for Demoman who was just then giving Soldier his Cow Mangler 3000. Rose walked up and let the men mingle for a minute or two before clearing her throat to gain their attention.

"Hmmm-hmm," she coughed, standing up straight. The mercs quieted down and looked at her, some happy to hear what she was going to say, others not so much. "Thank you guys for doing this and going through with this plan."

"Yeah! No prob, Rose," Scout spoke up. "Anything to kick that old geezers ass!" The other men began to agree and nod to the young merc's statement.

"Right! That being said, Gray doesn't know that this facility is fake, so he'll throw the normal amount at us, maybe a little more. I know I don't have to say much in regards to keeping your guards up, since you guys have been doing this for a bit, but I do know that anything can happen, and we do have to be ready."

The men nodded and kept quiet to let her continue. Rose glanced over the group to make sure they are all with her; much to her surprise, even Spy and Sniper seemed interested in what she was saying. "Now even though we have the EMP weapons, that doesn't necessarily this will be an easy battle. Engineer has filled me in on what you guys normally have and what you can do against these bots and what they bring to the field as well. Just do what you normally do and if anything comes up, I'll communicate it with you with these." She then held out the earpieces out the men, and even though it was timidly, they all took some.

"Hey, I don't get one?" Scout said, looking around for one for him.

"You have that big one on yer head there, Scout," Engineer said. "Ya just gotta turn it on."

"Correct. Wheatly already has the rest of these synced to a main, private channel and we just need to connect yours," Rose explained. The young merc took off his headset and turned on.

"Aaaand that's it! You are all connected," Wheatly said.

"Thanks Wheatly. Alright guys, I'm not going to sit here and talk your ears off, so go ahead and get set up. Gray's robots will be here shortly and you guys need to get to your points." Rose finished and the mercenaries moved out and went to get ready. Some went to the supply rooms near the back and the others went and got things ready near the front towards the mine. Rose walked down towards the center building where Engineer was setting up his turrets and dispenser, holstering her swords in the holsters on her hips.

"So, you think we can do this?" Wheatly asked timidly.

"Yup. These guys have been through this before, and we're no strangers to danger. As long as we keep connected and communicate, we'll beat them back hard," Rose said with confidence. It would be a lie if she didn't admit that she was a little excited to be doing this.

On normal missions in her past, she was a lot more straight forward and serious, whether she did them alone or not. Here, however, she felt right at home, and not so out of place. She _was_ ready for this; ready to fight and ready to kick some ass. And with these mercenaries by her side, she felt like she could take on the world. She was happy to be here.

* * *

A loud horn sounded off in the distance, and everyone looked up to see a familiar, giant, blue carrier over the hill. Rose studied it and noticed that it would be too far away to shoot it with the EMP Weapons; they were energized shots so by the time the shots got there, there would be little to no power to affect the giant carrier. Rose put her finger up to her right ear where she put her earpiece to activate and communicate to the rest of the team.

"I'm pretty sure you guys heard that, so you all know what to do," Rose said. She was standing next to Engineer and Medic on top of the middle building, who nodded to her. Medic ran off to take position and Engineer hit his main turret with his wrench, finishing a few adjustments.

Rose stood at the edge, keeping an eye on the carrier, imagining what the fight my be like. Realizing that anything could happen, however, she shook the thoughts from her head and cleared it; she didn't want to be caught off guard for any of the upcoming events.

"Rose?" Wheatly asked, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Hmm?" she replied.

"You know, we've never actually been in a battle like this yet," he said in hushed tones.

Rose looked over to Engineer to see if he heard, but luckily he was busy with his tools to listen. "Yeah, I know," she whispered. "But that doesn't mean we can't do this. Don't get cold feet on me now Wheatly."

"Of course, Rose. Just….just be careful, okay? You have two of us to worry about, remember?" the AI said with a worrisome tone.

"Don't worry," she said, rubbing the back of her neck, and the device connected to it. "I won't let anything happen to you, promise."

"Hmh, thank you," he said.

Things got quiet once more and Rose was left to her thoughts again until she spoke up a few moments later with a question. "Hey Engineer? How do these bots fight, by the way? I mean, I know they are designed around you guys and fight like you but, like is it just one whole force pushing through?"

"Oh-ho no, thank goodness. They basically come in waves, ranging from a number of bots. The waves normally consist of about six waves," the Texan explained. As he explained, Sniper was walking up the back platform to take his position on the roof. "The main bots we gotta worry about are the giant uber bots and the sentry busters."

"Sentry busters?" Rose asked.

"Oh yeah, those are bomb bots that are specifically designed to take out me n' my sentries," he said, patting the top of his sentry.

"Hmmm, maybe you won't have to worry about those today," Rose said with a smirk.

"Why do you say that, ma'am?" Engineer said with confusion, and Sniper looking at her the same way.

"Eh, just trust me, those busters won't get near you," she turned and waved, facing the entrance to the mine.

"Well, if you say so….oh!" he said, reaching in to his toolbox next to his dispenser; Rose looked over to see what he was doing. "Here, I know you fancy yer swords n' all, but ya never know when you'll need this." The Texan handed her a small semi-automatic pistol, almost like the one she's seen Scout with, along with a few extra spare magazines.

"Oh, thank you Engineer," she said, genuinely surprised. She looked up at him with a big smile, "I'll make good use of it!"

"Heh, I have no doubt you will," he said.

Then another loud horn sound came from the carrier as the mercenaries turned their attention. Rose put the safety on her new pistol, and stuck it slightly between her belt and pants and grabbing her swords. She unwrapped her chains that were still around her chest and connected the two butterfly swords together. Rose looked around the ground to see all of the mercenaries ready and waiting for the first wave.

Demoman, Heavy, and Soldier were standing just before the bridge, Heavy's mini-gun making a humming noise as he spun it up. Medic was standing behind them ready to give aid, and Spy and Pyro were behind the walls that led to the bridge that Scout was standing on top of. Rose continued to stay on the roof with the other two when she noticed something.

"Heavy," she said in the comms. The giant man looked up at her. "If and when you need to, fall back up here and stand next to Engineer's dispenser for healing and ammo so Medic can focus on the others as needed."

The Russian nodded and smiled as she turned her attention to Pyro. "Pyro stay there to cause some extra damage to make it easier for the rest of us to deal extra damage so it's easier to get through each wave." Pyro nodded as well, holding a thumbs up. "Anything else I'll bring up as we go," she finished. Everyone nodded in agreement as they became ready.

"Alright fellas," Wheatly began, "Here we go in 10….9….8….7….6….5….4….3….2….1…."

There was a moment of silence when everyone felt a slight shaking in the ground. For a moment, there was a bit of confusion on everyone's faces, and Rose saw this she turned to Engineer. "Engineer, what's going on? Shouldn't they be here yet?"

"Yeah, but somethings different..." he said, unsure of what was going on.

"Wheatly, can you scan the area and find where they are?" Rose asked.

"Of course…" he said. He was quiet for a second before he gave an answer. "They're on their way, but…."

"But what?" Rose asked, getting a little impatient and a tad bit nervous.

"But it's almost like an army is approaching! There's waaay more than what we projected was coming in!" he said.

"But that can't be right! Gray always sends them in-" Engineer was cut off when a rocket hit the side of the building. Everyone turned to see a mass amount of Soldier-bots marching their way into the compound. Rose froze, not expecting that many of one bot to come in; she had to think fast.

"HEAVY, ENGIE SHOOT AWAY THE ROCKETS! DEMO AND SOLDIER FALL BACK TO THE VATNAGE POINT!" She shouted. The men moved quickly and without question "Medic, stay with Heavy and slowly make your way back. Pyro set as many of those bastard on fire as you can and fall back when things heat up too much, Spy try and make your way around and use your sapper, and Scout and Sniper can give you as much cover as you-" Rose stopped just in time to duck into cover as a rocket whizzed past and exploded in the sky. "SHIT!" she yelled in anger, bringing her back up against the wall.

"Rose! Be careful!" Wheatly exclaimed.

"COME AND GET SOME YOU ROBOTIC HIPPIE BASTARDS!" she heard Soldier yell. Rose looked over the edge of her cover just in time to see Soldier rocket jump into the air and get some air shots on the bots.

All of a sudden a large group of bots started to twitch and spazz as she saw Spy all the way at the back the mass of charging robots. He stood there for a minute admiring his work when he suddenly swirled around and pulled out his revolver and pointed at nothing. Rose didn't know what he was going to shoot at when he pulled the trigger and a Spy-bot uncloaked and feel to the ground without a head. She looked around and saw that Pyro was starting to get over-whelmed with Scout-bots that were jumping down from the bridge and from above the hallway he was backing into.

Without a second thought, Rose dove to the other side of the building towards Engineer, who was patching up his sentry, rolled into cover and grabbed Pyro's Phlogistinator and jumped off the side of the building to the back entrance of the hallway the flamer was in. She ran in, dodging rocket fire on the way down, and ran to the bend in the hall way; once there she saw that Pyro was shaking his flamethrower in frustration. ' _He's out of juice...'_ she thought. "Pyro! Take this!" she yelled, tossing his energized weapon to him. He looked up and caught it just in time for a large group of Scout-bots and a few Soldier-bots making their way into the hallway.

Unfortunately Pyro couldn't activate his gun in time, but Rose was way ahead of him, sending one of her swords flying directly into the chest of the oncoming Scout-bot, sending an electrical charge through it, making it explode in the process and causing massive amounts of damage to the bots around it, making some others explode as well. Rose smiled, glad that that worked out in her favor, but the smile faded when more bots made their way in.

Pyro finally got his energized weapon working and fired, causing the bots to twitch and spazz, like they did with Spy's sapper. Rose took this moment to pull back her sword still lodged in the Scout-bot and pulled out the semi-automatic pistol Engineer had given her earlier and started to lay waste; carefully and methodically she shot each bot through the head, causing the most amount of damage and thinning out the numbers. By the time the came back online, she was close enough to use her swords, so putting the pistol back, she charged up both of her swords up and began slashing.

The fist Scout-bot that charged her missed it's swing with it's metal bat by Rose ducking down and to the left; in doing so she brought her right sword up and shoved it in the robots chest, causing it to melt right through because of the heat the charge gave off. After the first one was downed, Rose gave about a foot slack to her swords with her chain, and began to slowly spin them.

"Pyro, I would step back if I were you," she warned. "Matter of fact, go help the others."

Without hesitation, Pyro backtracked the way Rose came into the hallway, letting her do her thing. Two more Scout-bots with metal bats charged forward to hit her but as they brought both their arms up to swing, she quickly took the gap to launch both her swords in the heads of both of them and pull them towards her. The bots fell to the ground but were quickly replaced with a Soldier-bot that immediately fired at her. She dodged to the right, jumping onto the wall and launching herself towards the metal man, blades up in the air. Before it could react, Rose planted her swords into the metal helmet of the robot, jumping onto it and causing it to fall backwards.

Once on the ground, Rose noticed that she made her way back out of the hallway, and looked around: Most of the bots were already taken out by the rest of the team, but they had fallen a bit back in the process. She looked to the top of the building to see Engineer's sentry still intact and Heavy helping to provide cover fire. Pyro was burning up bots that tried to pass, and was popping up, stabbing, and disappearing at different locations. Medic was helping Demoman as he laid sticky bombs on the left side of the building and Soldier was still doing rocket jumps of the robots and doing aerial shots. Rose waved at Engineer to get his attention and to show that she was fine, kneeling on the downed Soldier bot. The Texan noticed, smiled, and waved back, relieved to see that she could really handle herself. The smile soon disappeared as he looked forward, a look of dread coming over his face.

Rose was confused for a moment, but when she turned her head to follow his gaze, she understood why he was worried; a sentry buster had made it's way above the mine and was about to jump down. Rose realized that it was basically like a water mine that she's seen that float in the ocean around defended areas, and that it was just on legs. Just then a bright idea popped in her head and Rose stood up, spinning up her right sword quickly. Without a moments hesitation she launched it across the open pathway, lodging it in the wall on the other side and pulled just enough back to pick up the chains slack. A few seconds later the sentry buster passed under the bridge and without knowing it, had tripped over Rose's chain, and fell to the ground, causing a massive explosion. Luckily for her, when the bot tripped, it loosened her sword and chain enough to where she was able to pull it back quickly and dive back into the hallway for some cover.

"Hnk oof..." she grunted as she landed and the explosion went off. "Well, at least that worked."

"Yeah, but do you think we can be a little bit more further _away_ when something like that explodes?!" Wheatly hounded.

"Well, we weren't hurt, so that's all that matters, right?" she said as she stood up, dusting herself off. "We should probably re-group with the team though, so we can see if everyone is doing alright."

Before Wheatly could agree, another loud explosion shook the ground, but when Rose turned to see what it was, there was no fire or shrapnel that flew past the hallway. The her earpiece crackled to life with Medic's voice on the other end.

"Eh, Rose? You should come out now….we may have a problem," he uttered. Rose walked back to entrance of the hallway just in time to see a giant blue tank-like slowly make it's way past.

"What the hell is that?!" Wheatly and Rose shouted in unison. Rose studied it as it passed by, taking it into great detail: there were big tracks on the sides of it, as well as a big grate on the front where she could only assume that that's where it's bomb was. As she was looking she notice a bump on the top of the tank as it passed by.

"Wheatly, what is that on top of it?" she ask, noticing that all the guys were just firing at it.

"Um give me a second..." he replied. A second later he had a answer, "Oh apparently that's a hatch leading to the inside of the tank."

"Really?!" she said with a huff of breath, smiling. "Guys, quit wasting your ammo on that thing, I have an idea."

All the men stopped firing and looked at her like she was crazy, but ignoring their looks, she bolted to the back of the center building as the tank made it's way around the right side. As she went around around, she heard the clanking of more bots on the way.

"So instead waste the bots on their way in?!" she yelled, huffing as she ran up the ramp and onto the roof. They shook out of their daze and began to fire upon the incoming bots.

Rose ran over to the edge of the building just as the tank was passing and jumped on top of it. "Rose! What in the world are you doing missy?!" Engineer yelled behind her.

"Trust me, I got this!" she said, not looking back as she lifted the hatch on top of the tank. Once opened, she hesitated because all she saw was pitch black darkness. "Hey! Toss me a flashlight!" she yelled.

Scout ran over to her pack on the roof, pulled out her flashlight that was in it and threw it to her. Luckily he threw it a little ahead of her so when it reached her, she was able to catch it. Rose turned it on, and jumped in the tank. She landed with a thud, but froze in case something was going to happen or something was going to attack. Once she knew she was safe she quickly began to look around and shine her flashlight on everything. At first the inside seemed barren, as small as it was, but then her light came across a small control board near the front. Knowing she was running out of time, she quickly walked over and began to examine the board.

"Wheatly, got anything?" she asked frantically, not daring to press any buttons.

"Um, no...i don't think, oh wait!" he said as the young woman patiently waited for an answer.

"Wheatly?" she said worryingly.

"Okay okay, there is a metal panel underneath the control board. Open it and I'll tell you what wires to cut," he explained.

"Okay, got it," she said. Rose got on the floor, and scooted under the panel and holding the flashlight between her left ear and shoulder to give her. Once settled she unsheathed her bowie knife that was still strapped to her leg and use that to unscrew the panel.

"Rose, I don't know what you are doing, but I would suggest doing it fast," she heard Spy's voice come to life on her earpiece. For a moment, she was caught off guard that he actually said something non-threatening to her, but then realized the circumstances.

"Right, just hold on for a minute or two. I'm almost done here," she replied. Rose got the panel loose and was staring at nothing but a tangle of wires. "Uh, Wheatly? What am I looking at?"

"Oh right, okay, um….there is a big green wire in that tangled mess that you're going to have to cut," he explained. "It's thicker than the others so it'll be easy to spot, but you have to be careful not to move these wires around too much, or you'll set off the bomb inside this thing a bit early."

"Great. Because we wouldn't want to make this too easy, would we?" Rose groaned sarcastically.

"Hey Miss Sass, I didn't build this hunk of junk!" the AI retorted.

"No, you would have at least been competent on your design," she said, wishing she could personally punch this Gray Mann in the face for his incompetence.

"You better believe it, missy!" he exclaimed.

Rose quieted down to concentrate on the task ahead; she slowly moved her hand into the tangled mess, feeling that most of the wires felt about the same thickness, so it should be easy to feel for the green one. As her whole arm was halfway into the mess, a flashing red light and sirens went off inside the tank, startling her and making her panic slightly.

"WHEATLY!? WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" she yelled over the sounds.

"The tank is almost at the detonation site! You must hurry, Rose!" he panicked.

Rose calmed down, and re-focused, but moved a bit faster in trying to find the elusive green wire, carefully maneuvering her arm around the mesh of wires. After a few seconds, she felt a thick wire come across her fingers and grabbed it, slowly bringing it down so she could cut it. All of a sudden, the tank stopped, and Rose's heart beat grew faster, knowing that time was almost up.

"Rose! Get outta there!" she heard Engineer yell through her earpiece.

"No I almost have this!" she protested.

"Rose needs to get out of big machine! NOW!" Heavy demanded.

"NO!" she yelled back.

The tank brought out its big bomb and was calibrating it while Rose maneuvered her hand back with the green wire. When it was almost in sight, the wire snagged something and Rose couldn't bring it all the way out. All the mercenaries were still fighting back the giant wave of robots surging forward, but those who could break away were watching in horrified suspense on top of the center building as the tank slowly brought the bomb over the bomb hole. The tank paused for a second and the mercenaries looked away, waiting for the giant explosion to follow suit.

But it never came. After a few seconds of no giant explosion, the group looked back at the tank to see the bomb suspended over the hole, wanting to in but couldn't. For a moment, the men were confused and still scared that something bad had happened. Then a figure emerged from the top of the tank, holding a flashlight in one hand and her bowie knife in the other. Rose pulled her way out of the tank, stood up, and looked at the mercs, who were standing on top of the building in amazement. Then she waved at them, letting them know everything was alright, and the whole group cheered.

"See? Told you I had this," she huffed into her earpiece, heart still pounding from all the tension. "Can't believe you guys doubted me."

"Well zhat was a bit of a close call, madame," Spy replied, waving back.

"Aye! Ya almost gave me a heart attack, lass!" Demo laughed.

"Well, at least it should be easier from here on out, right?" Rose said, jumping off and jogging her way over to the rest of the group.

"Not quiet..." Sniper replied.

"What now?" she sighed.

"You'll see," he said.

As she got to the roof, all the men had changed their gaze towards the top of the mine, and as Rose followed she saw the giant Soldier-bot jump down with a Medic-bot right behind him. Heavy and Engineer started firing at the behemoth and as soon as their bullets made contact, the Medic-bot activated it's Uber-charge, protecting it's ally from any damage.

"Dammit! Damn those Uber-bots!" Engineer cursed.

"Well shit," Rose said, exhausted.

"Vell? Vhat now?" Medic turned to Rose. But she was already thinking of a way to take him down.

Noting that the Medic-bot only activated it's Uber when it's ally was in danger gave her an idea. Before she could say anything, however, the giant robot fired a rocket at the group. "TAKE COVER!" she yelled, and all the mercs dove for cover, except for Heavy, who started up his gun and fired at the oncoming rocket. Rose was about to yell at the burly Russian to take cover when the rocket exploded mid-air. Heavy continue to fire at every rocket that was fired in their direction, protecting his teammates.

"Now would be good time to come up with plan….!" he yelled. Rose nodded and began to explain what she was thinking.

"Okay, while Heavy continues to fire out those rockets, Sniper you need to take that Medic-bot first, once they're out of the Uber. Next shoot out one of the kneecap covers and I'll take out it's knee. While Sniper takes out the Medic-bot, Scout needs to make his way down to take out the other kneecap cover at the same time Sniper takes one out. I'll shout out it's knees and then it'll fall to the ground. That's when the rest of you are going to lay waste to that thing and destroy it. If all else fails, I'll destroy the big guy myself," Rose explained. All the mercenaries looked at her like she was crazy. "What? Too much?"

"Rose, you almost exploded..." Scout pointed out.

"Ja, you need to rest, Rose," Medic agreed, coming over to her cover and healing her. "Ve have zhe situation under control."

Rose looked at the doctor, then at the others who nodded in agreement. "Alright," she sighed. "But stick to the plan. It'll conserve ammo."

"But of course," Spy said, pulling out his sapper with a devilish smile, waving it slightly. "Just one minor adjustment." Rose smiled back and nodded.

"Alright guys, go get 'em!" she shouted.

And with that command, the men we off to destroy what was hopefully their last enemy, Spy being the first to leave. Rose looked over her cover as she saw the Medic-bot and the giant Soldier-bot stop and twitch, which gave Sniper, who was next to her and Medic, the signal to take out his targets; first he took out the Medic-bot with a single shot to the head with his bolt action sniper rifle with zoom-enhanced scope, then aimed for the robot's right kneecap guard and shot it clean off. At the same time Scout came by and hit off the second one with his metal baseball bat, and as Rose was about to get up and shoot the knees as planned, two shots were already fired. She looked to see who beat her to it and looked down to the ground in front of her to see Spy standing there with his revolver out.

The masked man looked up at Rose and smirked while Rose just shook her head. The giant took no time at all to fall to the ground, loosing it's rocket launcher in the process. Rose had an idea when the bot landed flat on the ground.

"Demo! Sticky bombs!" she shouted to the one-eyed Scottsman. He looked at her, then the bot, and nodded back at her with a wicked grin.

Demoman ran over to the edge of the roof and shot off eight sticky bombs near the robots head. Once done he looked to Rose for confirmation, but she gave him a signal to wait and turned to Soldier. "Soldier! Get your Cow Mangler. Demo, detonate when Soldier fires his weapon for added damage!" she instructed.

Without hesitation, Soldier ran over towards the dispenser and swapped his rocket launchers, then ran over next to the demolitionist. They both waited for Rose's signal and after a few seconds of watching the robot struggling to get up, and then Rose swung her right arm down, and Soldier fired his Mangler. As soon as the war dog fired, Demoman detonated his sticky bombs and as he did, Soldier's energized EMP shot hit the robot as the bombs exploded in front of it. A sudden flash of bright colors and a small wave of heat washed over the group as everyone ducked out of the way of the explosions. The ground shook violently and bits of shrapnel flew all over the base. After a few seconds of everything shaking and exploding, things quieted down, and Rose was the first to raise her head.

She looked around to make sure everyone was okay, and to her relief, everyone on the roof was just fine. Then her heart stopped as she remembered Spy was on the ground last she remembered, and she immediately got up and ran to the edge of the roof. "SPY!? Spy, are you alright?!" she shouted, frantically.

"I'm touched," a French voice softly said behind her. She swirled around to see Spy there in the middle of the roof, dusting off his sleeves and looked at the young woman with a smile. "I didn't zhink you cared so much, Rose."

"Ugh," Rose gave a light sigh, "Shut up. It just so happens I made a promise." Rose got up and walked over to the Frenchman, and gave him a big smile. All of a sudden the group heard a loud horn, and looked at the carrier. "What now?"

"I think they gave up," Engineer said. Before anyone could say anything, the carrier started to move away from the area, slowly disappearing from view.

All of a sudden the whole group of mercenaries cheered and shouted, high-fiving one another and jumping with joy. In all the commotion, Rose just stood there, an accomplished feeling resting in her. She felt amazing, more amazing than she had felt in years since she left Apature. She truly was at home, with these mercenaries, with Wheatly. Whether that plane crash was an accident, or on purpose, Rose was happy that it happened. Before she could finish her thoughts, someone hugged her from behind and lifted her slightly to spin.

"Whoa whoa-hahaha, wait a minute, sneaking up on me isn't fair!" she teased. She was then let down and she turned to see that it was Medic who had picked her up.

"Heh heh, es tut mir leid, miss. I got a little too caught up in zhe moment," Medic said, rubbing the back of his neck, and blushing slightly.

"Hahaha, it's okay, Medic!" Rose assured. "It's good to be excited, we won!" She grabbed his hands and jumped up and down in excitement. Then she let go and ran towards the rest of the mercenaries, who were still cheering for their victory.

"Hey! We can't forget that big pile o'cash!" Scout shouted. The mercs all quieted down as they watched Scout jump off the building towards a giant pile of cash that laid in the middle of the pathway. The rest of them jumped off to join the young merc, Rose included. They all circled the money and started to get some when Engineer spoke up.

"Now hold up, y'all," he said, "Rose helped a huge ton with this mission, I think she should get first grabs on this here money." The others agreed and looked at her, waiting for her to take what was hers.

"Oh...no this was all of us, guys," she started to object. "We did this as a team. And I couldn't have possibly accomplished any of this without you guys."

"Ah don't me so modest, miss," Sniper spoke up. "You're just as mucha' professional as any of us 'ere. You were the one that took charge."

"Yeah, normally we just come here shootin' stuff in the face," Scout chimmed.

"You are a magnificent leader, maggot!" Soldier said, giving Rose a salute. The rest grunted and nodded in agreement.

"But..." Rose started to blush, and her eyes started to water. But before anyone noticed, she grabbed a stack of money and held it above her head. "Take this Gray Mann! Your loss is our gain!" The men cheered and hollered and took their own stacks of money, and held it above their heads as well.

 _'This is where I belong,'_ Rose thought to herself.

 **Hope you guys are enjoying this! This chapter took particularly long to make only because I haven't really written a big fight scene like this, only small one on one ones, so I'm sorry if it lacks, well, action. But I do think it came out okay so I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Reviews are always welcomed.**


	16. Down to Business

The Tenth Class

Chapter 16: Down to Business

"What in the hell happened!" Gray Mann shouted to his room full of robots. All of them were quiet, almost as if they were afraid to answer the short, angry man. Gray stood tall over all of his robots on a tall platform with a large flat-screen that showed brightly throughout the room. He was donned in a full gray suit, with a white under-shirt and black tie. His gray hair was slicked back showing many aging lines across his face, and on his back was a device that was directly attached to his spine and glowed with a yellow substance. "How in the hell were we tricked into sending so many of _my_ resources to this...this...asinine base!"

Mann waved his arms towards the giant screen behind him that showed the fake base that Rose and the Tuefort mercs spent time making. It currently looked abandoned, with little to no sign that there was actually a fight that took place, with the exception of a few mechanical parts here and there. Mann studied the base, and his anger grew he knew he needed to make a game changing plan.

"This cannot happen again," he shouted. " _How_ did this even happen?"

 _*_ _Beep beep * It looks like they_ _made a_ _fake base master,_ one of the Scout-bot had pointed out.

Gray gave a frustrated sigh, rubbing the sides of his temple. "Yes, thank you for that painfully obvious addition," he grumbled. "Ugh, what we need is a fast way to send in more robots from here, to the place of battle."

The robots in the room were still silent, either due to not having any actual coherent thought, or for waiting for the old man to continue. Mann walked from one end of the platform to the other, contemplating a way to ensure his success to gather all of the australium and defeat his enemies. After a few minutes of pacing he stops next to a table that was on the platform with him and looks up at the giant screen, then he turns to the table and picks up a remote that was sitting on top of it and pressed a button. The screen that began to twitch and play back what seemed to be a recording of the battle all the way from when the first robot started to cross over the top over the mine. Once he saw all the mercenaries over the center bridge, he paused the recording and studied the picture that was shown. From this point of view from what seemed like he was looking out of the eyes of one of his Soldier-bots, he saw Sniper to the far right on top of the center building, gun at the ready. Mann's gaze then shifted to Rose, whose attention seemed to be directed towards some one else as a rocket was heading to them. Mann paused for a minute, focusing his gaze upon the young woman, his anger only being matched with his curiosity. _'Who is this woman?'_ he thought to himself.

His robots and his own research weren't able to find much of anything on Rose, who she was, or where she even came from. It was as if someone had completely erased any file that could have possibly existed about her, and Gray didn't like having unknown variables in his plan. He continued to ponder what he could do to get her out of the situation when his eyes fell upon Engineer, who was slightly crouched behind his sentry and looking at Rose; they seemed to be talking about something before the rocket arrived. Then and idea suddenly popped in Gray Mann's head, and a wicked smile spread across his face.

"I've got it."

* * *

Rose was sound asleep in her bed, the covers were half way off her body and hanging off the edge of the bed. Archimedes was currently dozing off next to her on her nightstand, and Medic was also currently asleep in his bed across the room, glasses laying haphazardly off his face. The two looked like they just plopped in bed when the whole group came back from their successful mission at Decoy.

Once everyone was back to base, with the exception of Engineer and Spy, who needed to drive Engineer's truck back, they all celebrated for a few hours. Demoman brought out a case of beer for everyone, and offered some to Rose who turned it down, explaining that she wasn't a big drinker, but still stayed in the garage to celebrate with everyone. The team finished their mission late in the day so by the time they made it back to base it was late in the evening, which gave them some time to hang around and allow their adrenaline to calm down. Once the so-called party was beginning to wane, Rose was the first to head to bed, which prompted the rest to do the same. They all began to walk together up the stairs to the hallway above, and one by one, they all went their separate ways before Rose and Medic made it to the last set of stairs that led to their floor. The two walked up the stairs slowly, smiles on their faces and keeping silent due to how tired they were, until one decided to break their silence.

"Zhank you for all of your help, Rose," Medic said, turning his head to her with a smile.

She looked over to him and smiled back, "For what?" she asked.

"For giving us a better chance to fight back," he said gently.

"Oh well, you guys always had the chance, I guess I just bettered the odds," she said, trying to be modest. She shoved her hands in her pocket and looked down at her feet. "You guys would've been just fine without me."

Medic stops and puts his right hand on her shoulder. "Maybe, but because of your intervening, Gray just lost a great deal of resources. I'm almost certain Ms. Pauling vouldn't have listened to Soldier about zhe fake base so easily vithout you."

"Hmm, I suppose so," Rose said, shrugging. She thought about how Pauling and the Administrator treat these men, and it made her a little angry, but seeing how happy these men were about their success pushed the anger down for another day. "C'mon doc, let's go get some rest. I think we've earned it."

"I couldn't agree more, fräulein," he agreed, and the two continued to their room. Once there Rose sat on her bed as Medic began removing his gear and setting it down next to his own. Rose did the same and pulled her pack off and set it in front of her nightstand, then laid on her back with her arms behind her head.

"Medic?" she asked, looking over to her wall with all the pictured and lines that her and Pauling had done that one night.

"Hmm?" the German said, looking over his shoulder from his desk.

"Do you think you guys will win this?" Rose asked.

"Heh, I do," he said with a smile.

"Me too," she agreed.

"Me three!" Wheatly said abruptly, popping up into view over Rose's chest.

"Well, I'm glad your still active," Rose said.

"Of course I am, I've just been quiet because I been running my daily diagnostics report on the neuro-adapter, as well as myself."

"And here was enjoying the peace and quiet," Rose teased, leaning her head back down and closing her eyes. She could hear Medic try and stifle a laugh.

"Hmph, well it was nice to take a break from, well….you too," the AI tried to tease back. Rose and Medic just chuckled at his attempt for a come-back and Wheatly just crossed his arms and pouted. "Fine. That was a well-played zinger, Rose," he said, finally loosening up.

"Hahaha thanks, Wheatly," she said. "Maybe next time you'll get me."

"Yeah, well that will have to wait," Wheatly said, standing up straight. "You're vitals are showing that you are in much need of sleep, so hush up and sleep."

"Okay mom," Rose teased again, turning on her right side to see Medic sitting down on his bed.

"Well one of us has to be sometimes," Wheatly teased back, crossing his arms.

"See? Told ya you'd get me back," she stated with a soft smile.

"Hm, so I did," the AI grinned. "Now, please, both of you get some rest?" The two nodded and then AI disappeared with a small blue flash of light.

Rose turned back on her back and looked up at the ceiling, and thought about they past few days she has had; frankly, she didn't quiet know what to make of all of it. She wasn't sure what to make of the Administrator other than she didn't like how she treated these men like they didn't matter, and treated Pauling the same way. She also didn't like all of the secrets and how no one really noticed anything going on, or what Gray Mann's end game really was. That was the part that worried her most because she didn't like being in the dark like this. It was something she never appreciated, especially during her time at Aperture Science. That was the worst time of all, and it only happened a few years ago. She never saw eye to eye with the founder, Cave Johnson, and especially didn't approve of the fact that they put their own research before human morals. However, she didn't realize this until she started work on Wheatly.

Near the end of her time at Aperture, she had heard rumors about Johnson's illness, and how he wanted them to put a human mind in a machine for the pure sake of running the facility. Rose thought the idea itself was intriguing enough, but knew it would all end in vain. Aperture as a whole facility was much to vast and large for one organic AI to handle, let alone a whole human mind. She knew that that much technology and machinery would drive the mind insane, and could create catastrophic events, including death. But no matter how hard she tried to prove her theory, no one would listen to her, saying she had no idea what she was talking about, or why she even bothered becoming a scientist. Rose knew better, though, and she was determined to create an AI from pure code, and not from a human mind. If she could do that, she could help make more to run the facility, but when she finished Wheatly, she felt like she needed to hide him until she could prove that she could make more, hence the neuro-adapter she built to keep him hidden. It took more work than she would have liked, and time, which proved a problem since no one really noticed what she was doing, and with all the time and resources she had used to make the adapter, some people in higher up departments had noticed and started asking questions. Knowing the fact that they wouldn't listen to why she used these resources and probably punish her for using company time and resources, she decided it was best to leave, and timing couldn't be any better. Rose remembered that not too long after she left she heard that they went through with Johnson's request and the results were exactly what she warned them about.

Rose couldn't help but feel a bit responsible for the deaths of all those scientists, however. If she would have stayed, they would have had a chance to try her method, and they all would have lived. Or they could've done what they were planning anyways and she would have just been added to the body count. Rose never did understand why they made a substance such as nuero-toxin, but she also never understood why they did a lot of things. After a long quiet moment in her thoughts, Medic grew a bit worried about her sudden silence and decided to see what was wrong.

"Umm, Rose? Are you okay?" he asked, still sitting on his bed.

"Hm? Oh, yeah I'm fine Medic. Just thinking," she said coming back to reality. None of what happened back then matters now. "It's been a busy few days for me, I guess."

"All zhe more to get some sleep, hm?" the doctor said laying down in his bed.

"Yeah," she said. The two were then quiet as they began to fall asleep. Rose had meant to get up and change, but when she finally decided to, she heard a snore coming from her companion and decided it was best not to wake him, so she ended up falling asleep.

It was a long sleep and Rose's body had needed it after the adrenaline rush she had had the day before, and unknowingly her body ached for rest. She was passed out cold on her bed still when Medic had come through the doors of their room to see her still asleep and his favorite dove asleep on the nightstand next to her. He gave a soft smile and turned to his desk, with a cup of coffee in one hand and a bagel in the other. He set them both down on his desk so that he could pull out his chair quietly as to not wake his roommate, and did so accordingly. Once comfortable, he brought his coffee up and blew on it to take a sip and looked down at his desk. The German doctor had a few files on his desk that he'd been meaning to organize and put away once he went through them, and then noticed that there was a fresh folder on the left edge of his desk. He tilted his head to his side, noting that it was new because it was a brighter, fresher folder that the ones that had been on his desk for a few days. He put his cup down and picked up the folder, curious as to see what was on it, and as he opened it and skimmed the contents of what was inside, his eyes grew slightly from surprise; there was a picture of Rose clipped to the front of an empty medical sheet.

As Medic sat there studying the sheet, he knew that the Administrator wanted him to do a medical evaluation on Rose, but the only question that popped up in his mind was, why now? She had been with the mercenaries for a few months now, and the Administrator would have normally asked for this when Rose was first able to stay, not to mention the old woman should have been able to find all of Rose's medical information on her own, like she did with everyone else. Before he could continue his thought, however, he heard someone stirring behind him and turned to see Rose slowly sit up from her hard sleep and stretch her arms. With Rose moving, Archimedes began to awaken and flutter his wings and slowly take to the air to stretch himself out as well.

"Ah, it's good to see zhat you're finally up, Rose!" Medic said, turning around and giving her a slight wave.

"Mmmmmm, yup!" she said as she continued to stretch. "Man I slept hard, and it felt good!"

"Yes, zhat vill happen to a body zhat hasn't had much fighting in a while," Medic said turning back to his desk, and closing Rose's empty file. _'I'll handle zhis later,'_ he thought to himself, and returned his attention back to Rose.

"Y'know, that's a good point," Rose said, getting off her bed. "And I think I have a solution for that."

"And vhat might zhat be?" Medic inquired.

"Uh-uh," she said shaking her finger. "First food." The two gave a light laugh that prompted Wheatly to come out and take a look at what was going on.

"Oi, what are you two going on about now?" he said, pretending like he was stretching.

"Oh nothing, Wheatly," Rose assured her companion. "Just ready for some breakfast."

"Ah yes. You kind of do need to eat something, and breakfast is the most important meal of the day!" the AI said with a smile.

"Yes, I know, and I'm sure Medic knows too," she said, putting her shoes on. "That and a shower." She knew she needed one since she had been doing nothing but building and fighting. "So...anything good to eat downstairs, Medic?"

"Not unless you don't mind left overs," he said as Rose walked over next to him. "We don't have much in zhe way of groceries yet, I'm afraid."

"Hngh," the young woman gave a low short growl, "I want some real breakfast. How far is the nearest town, Medic? Maybe they have a diner."

"The nearest town is about twenty-three minutes away," Wheatly answered before Medic could even open his mouth.

"Gee Medic, I didn't know you had a small hologram look-a-like with a English accent," Rose said as she turned to Wheatly and gave him a scolding look.

"What? I just thought I could answer faster," the AI said with a shrug.

"Ugh, it's too early for this Wheatly," she said with a huff. "Plus I'm too hungry to argue with you."

"Fine, I'll play nice….for now," Wheatly said before he disappeared again. Rose and Medic looked at one another, then just laughed.

"So waddya say, doc? Wanna come with me to town for breakfast, instead of eating that crusty old bagel?" she offered. At first Medic was a bit surprised she asked him to come along, and a bit shy to give an answer, but after a short moment he stood up from his chair.

"Fräulein, it vould be my pleasure," he said in soft tone as he made a bowing gesture. Rose let out a giggle to the doctor's unexpected bow, and the two began to get ready for their trip into town.

Rose and Medic had traveled into a small hometown in his ambulance, and had already made their way into the nearest dinner, found their seats and were currently waiting for their food to arrive. Rose was a bit concerned that driving up to the diner it and ambulance without wearing the proper uniform was going to raise some eyebrows, but Medic had reassured her that most of townsfolk haven't really questioned his vehicle, and he didn't prove her wrong. They were sitting quietly as they waited for their food, Rose looking at her drink, and Medic looking around at the diner. Then Medic turned to Rose with a question.

"So, um Rose?" Medic asked.

"Hmm? What's up?" Rose replied looking up from her drink.

"If you don't mind me asking, vhat vere you doing before your plane crashed near our base?" Medic asked.

Rose realized that she hadn't gone into much discussion about the day of the plane crash, even though she had plenty of time to explain. "Oh, that's right. I never went into detail," she began. "Well, about a week before I was on the plane, I had gotten a letter in the mail describing a fighting competition that was directed to only the most experienced fighters, with the grand prize being a clean slate, a do-over for one's life if you will. And given most of my past, I really couldn't resist the opportunity."

Medic sat there staring at her with a confused look on his face. "What? What's wrong?" worried that she had said something wrong.

"Oh, uh nothing...but I'm curious..." he replied, "Vhat vas so bad in your past zhat you vould vant to run away from it?"

"Well, I...I..." she stuttered, unsure if she actually wanted to continue this conversation. "I don't want to talk about that right now."

"Oh, I see," Medic said with a sigh.

"What I do want is my food to be here already," Rose said, leaning her head on her hand and tapping her fingers on the table, hoping to change the topis to something brighter.

"Hahaha, ja. I vas just vondering vhen zhey were going to bring us our breakfast!" Medic chuckled in agreement. They both laughed a bit, Rose enjoying the change of topic. All of a sudden her stomach growled so loud that it made her blush a bit. "I do hope zhey come soon, for your sake at least!"

"Me too!" she said with a giant smile. Not even a full moment after her comment, a waitress wearing a light blue dress that came right above her knees and a white apron over it came out with a tray full of hot steaming food.

"Alrighty folks, we got some homemade french toast with powdered sugar and scrambled eggs, with a side of four pieces of bacon, and an order of blueberry flapjacks with a side of three sausages," the waitress had said with a Western accent while she put the plates in front of the two mercs. "Will that be all for the lovely couple?" she had asked.

Rose had almost spit out her water that she was in the process in drinking and Medic froze up straight and his face shot red with fluster. "Oh no ho ho, we're just colleagues!" Rose said as she tried to recompose herself.

"Ja! Ja, ve just vork together ma'am!" Medic said, adjusting his tie nervously.

"And I think we're good here. Thank you, though!" Rose had said, really wanting to just eat her food in peace now.

"Mmmhm, okay then y'all, if you two need anything just let me know!" the waitress said with a wink, and walked away.

"Vell, she certainly isn't getting a tip from me," Medic said sternly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Mmm, Medic phat's not fair, it's not her fault," Rose said with a mouth full of bacon, already diving into her food. Medic gave her a sly look over his glasses, and she swallowed her food. "Okay, well maybe it is, but still, she needs that money. Waitresses and waiters get paid less than minimum wage y'know."

"Eh I guess," Medic shrugged, and began to eat his food.

The next half hour was full of jokes and intriguing conversations between the two mercenaries as they enjoyed their breakfast. Wheatly had popped in every few minutes to give Rose and Medic a hard time but had left them relatively alone for most of the morning. After finishing their meal, Rose paid for the food, much to Medic's disagreement and the two started to make their way back to the ambulance. However, Rose had mentioned how beautiful a day it was and suggested they walk off their food, especially since she had something planned for when they return to base and knew it wouldn't bode well if they went in with full stomachs. Medic led the way around some buildings and Rose took in the sights of the small town.

The diner they had gone to was near the end of the main road that ran through the center of town before the road went into the mountains. The next shop by the diner was a clothes store that had a clearance sale for some hats, and the store next to it was a hardware store. There wasn't very many stores because it was such a quiet town, but the people there seemed nice enough. Rose and Medic walked up the street and decided to walk around the buildings to see if there were any other sites they could look at. After they walked about w block away from the diner, they turned down an ally way and began to walk towards the back.

"Man, it's sooo nice out today," Rose commented after a few moments of silence.

"Ich stimme zu, Rose. I'm glad you chose to take a walk," the German agreed.

"Hey uh, not to ruin the moment or anything," Wheatly voiced, "But we have what looks to be some trouble rounding the corner here in a few feet. I would suggest caution."

"Oh really?" Rose said softly, slowing her pace and Medic doing the same. "Are they bots? And how many?"

"Not bots, organic life signatures, and there are two," Wheatly responded.

"Hmm, fair fight then. Whaddya say, doc?" she said as she continued her pace, and looking over to the good doctor.

A devilish grin crawled across his face as he walked. "Let's go practice medicine," he said menacingly.

The two continued to walk at the same pace and as they grew closer to the corner of the building to the right of them, two darkly dressed figures jumped out in the open from behind the building to cut off their way out of the alley. Rose and Medic calmly came to a stop, and the four of them stood completely still for only a few moments. Rose quickly examined the two that stood in front of them: the one to her right was a male that looked to be a little over six feet and heavy set, wearing a black pull-over hoodie with a black bandana over the lower part of his face, and some faded dark blue jeans. In his left hand was a crowbar, but to her he seemed to be putting most of his weight on his left leg, giving her a clue that he is left dominant. The man next to his was a little shorter, wearing about the same clothes as the latter but instead of a crowbar, the man was wielding a switch blade in his right hand and was standing evenly from what she could tell.

"Looks like we have a couple of lost souls, T," the shorter man said first after a long silence.

"Mmm," the larger man grunted with a slow nod and gripped his crow bar tighter.

"Me thinks we should give them a proper welcome to town. What do ya say?" the short man said to his friend looking like he was going to charge Medic. Rose glanced over to her companion for a brief moment to see that he had both of his hands behind his back, but what he was holding surprised her slightly; he was holding a syringe that was filled with some white liquid, looking like he was ready to plunge it right into anyone who came near him. Rose turned her attention back to the two in front of her and noticed two trash barrels between her and the larger man, as well as a glass bottle near the bottom of one of them. _'_ _This should be easy,'_ she thought to herself.

"Well, here I thought today would be a boring day," Rose said breaking the silence once again, putting her hands on her hips. "But I don't think you understand what you boys are getting yourselves into."

"Boys!? Who ya callin' boys, little girl," the short man retorted, slightly annoyed.

"Well you might as well be boys if you think attacking innocent people who have no way of defending themselves manly," Rose continued to push. She noticed that the larger man was getting angrier than his counterpart, but she went on. "But I guess some people can't ever grow up."

All of a sudden the larger man made a mad dash for her, holding his crowbar up high above his head and ready to swing. In a matter of seconds he was able to get within swinging distance of her head, but when he swung down, he underestimated her agility and Rose made a quick duck, followed up by a leg swing to his left leg that she correctly determined would be out in the open. The giant man toppled to the ground on his face, unsure of what just happened but Rose wasn't going to let the opportunity pass as she darted for the trash bins.

"T!? Oh no you don't you bitch!" the man with the switchblade growled as he darted for Rose. However his trip was cut short as a fist jetted right for the right side of his face and made hard enough contact to cause the man to stagger to his side. He turned to see the man that was standing next to Rose slowly and calmly make his way to him, his left fist slightly bloody and his right still behind his back. Seeing the blood on his opponents hand made him feel his own face and noticed that his nose was bleeding, which in turn made him angrier and he decided to go after the man who punched him instead.

As Medic was engaging the switch blade man, Rose was already grabbing the metal lid of one of the trash bins and bent down to grab the glass bottle that laid helplessly on the ground. As she stood up, as if by instinct, Rose lifted her left arm with the trash bin lid in hand above her head to block the oncoming blow from behind; the larger man had already picked himself back up and made another swing at her backside, but was caught again by surprise at her ability to block his swing. Rose then pushed up from the ground, pushing the man back a bit to give her enough time to break the bottle on the wall next to her, turn around and charge the man with a crowbar. Seeing her charge, the man planted himself firmly on the ground, bringing his left arm behind him to ready for another swing, and Rose brought up the trash lid as a shield and continued her charge, keeping focus on her opponent and brought her broken glass bottle to her side, ready for a strike. As Rose closed the gap between them, the large man swung his arm in a wide side-swing to catch Rose at her side but Rose was much quicker and brought her shield to her side at the last second and before the man could swing his right arm at her, Rose jetted her right hand with the bottle straight for her attacker.

For what seemed like an eternity, Rose and the man froze, her still shielding his left arm and her head ducked underneath his chest looking straight at the ground. Her right arm was slightly above her head, and she was about to look up to see where her blow landed when she saw the man's arms drop to his sides and a red substance drip to the floor below. She looked up and saw that she had jammed the broken glass bottle right in his throat, and heard a low gurgle coming from him, estimating that he was probably choking on his own blood. Rose then forcibly yanked the glass away from her attacker and stepped back to let his body fall to the ground.

While this was happening Medic and the switch blade man were still fighting, unaware of what had transpired. The shorter man had taken a wide swing with his right arm, knife in tow to try and land a cut on the German, but Medic had blocked it with his left forearms and then sends a fist right for the man's abdomen. The punch knocked the wind out of the short man and he was dazed for only a moment when Medic seized the man by the throat with his left hand and brought his right hand forward showing the syringe.

"No wait I -" but it was too late. The syringe filled with mysterious liquid was jabbed into the man's neck, and the doctor quickly let him go. "What...what did you…?"

"Oh don't be such a baby," Medic said with his devilish grin. "It just some harmless knock-out medicine! I need you alive for my experiments to work, since your friend won't do." Medic then looked over to the larger man who was now laying in a small pool of blood with Rose standing there as she put the trash lid down and found a place to stash the bottle for the time being. The shorter man's eyes grew as he saw his friend on the ground, then looked up at the two mercenaries that were now standing above him, "Wh-who a-are you guys?" he said, slowly losing consciousness.

Rose knelt down to get close enough for him to hear, "We're the people you don't mess with, boy," she said menacingly. Then the man's head fell to the floor as he finally lost consciousness, and Rose stood back up to see the damage done. "Welp, so much for a nice day," she sighed.

"Vell, it vasn't all bad. Breakfast vas certainly nice," Medic said with a smile as he dusted himself off. "And I vas hoping we could keep zhem both alive, but one vill suffice."

"Well you should have said something. Then that guy would have lived a bit longer," Rose said with a bit of coldness to her voice. "But seeing as how he probably would have suffered more, I think I did him a favor."

"Regardless, ve should probably clean up zhis mess," Medic said.

"Agreed, wanna go get the ambulance and I'll watch guard?" Rose said. Medic nodded and quickly left to go and get his vehicle, as Rose pulled the unconscious man near his dead friend and picked up the weapons that were used during the fight and piled it all near the bodies. After she was done she patiently waited for Medic to return with the vehicle.

After a minute or two of waiting Medic pulls up behind the building and the two began cleaning up. It only took them a few minutes to make the alley way seem like there was never a fight, and thanks to the supplies in Medic's ambulance, they were able to clean up the blood before it had a chance to set in. As soon as they were done, they left the town and headed back to base in quietness.

* * *

Medic and Rose had returned to base through the front gate near the garage so that they didn't have to worry about the rest of the team bombarding them with questions as to why it took them so long to get back. Once they got the bodies of the two muggers inside and in a cooler Medic had off to the side of the main building for any organic material he would use for his experiments, the two made their way down to the recreation room to meet the others. Once they entered, they were actually surprised to see that all the mercenaries were there relaxing, and much to their agreement only a few seemed to notice that they entered. Engineer, who was sitting at the table that him, Medic, Soldier, and Rose all sat a few days ago waved at the two to come and sit with him, and with smiling faces, they went to go join their companion.

"'Bout time y'all showed up!" the Texan teased.

"Well when you've had a morning like these two, you'd be late to," Wheatly calmly said as he popped up when Rose and Medic sat down. Engineer gave the two of them a weird look.

"It's been an interesting morning. I'll explain later," Rose said with a sigh. "And you," pointing a finger to the AI, "Keep your mouth shut, please."

"Psh, okay boss-lady," Wheatly said crossing his arms and rolling his eyes.

"Anyways, how was the trip back with Spy?" Rose asked, changing the topic.

"Oh, dull as usual. He ain't much of a talker," Engineer said as he looked back at the masked man. Rose followed his look to see the Frenchman playing darts with Sniper, and losing by the looks of it.

"Huh, well I'm sorry to hear that Engie," Rose said turning her attention back to the Texan.

"Eh, don't worry too much about it miss," he said waving his hand, "I'm used to it by now. But I will say I did enjoy the ride with you and Soldier a bit more, hehe."

"Heh, yeah that was pretty fun for as long of a drive it was," she agreed. "Oh so I was thinking while we have some down time, we should use the VR Training room and work on some combat plans."

"Oh yeah? I was wondering when you were gonna get that thing going," Engineer said, leaning back in his chair.

"Yeah, that's actually what I was planning on doing today before-" Rose started explaining before she was cut off.

"Eehh! What took you two knuckle heads so long!?" she heard a Bostonian voice holler. The three turned to see Scout walking up to the table and take a seat.

"Oh heya Scout," Engineer greeted first. "Rose here was just explaining how she wanted to go over some training tactics the that VR thing."

"Oh really? Well it's about damn time!" Scout said, putting his feet up on the table as he leaned in his chair. "I've been dyin' to show off my skills!"

"Better be careful for what you wish for Scout," Wheatly began, "Or Rose here will give ya a run for your money, mate."

"Psh, yeah right," the young merc shrugged. "I bet I could run laps around ya!" Engineer and Medic tensed up as Rose glared at him, Medic even more so seeing what she had just accomplished an hour or so ago.

"Well Scout, if you're so sure, then show me what ya got," Rose said, her expression lightening. "Or do you let your mouth run faster than you?"

"Oh ho ho it's on now lady," Scout said sitting up in his chair. The other mercs were now interested in what they were talking about. "I'm gonna run laps around ya!"

"Then let's go see what you're made of," Rose said getting up from her seat and heading towards the exit, the rest of the mercenaries following behind, not wanting to miss a single piece of action.

They all made their way down to the garage and Rose opened up the way into the VR room and walked over to the control panel. She started up the machine and the lights flickered at the power serge. "Engineer," she stated, "Come over and run the simulation with Wheatly. Wheatly, prep for pull."

"Right'o!" he said cheerfully. As Engineer made his way over to her, Rose pressed a small button on her neuro-adapter and it ejected a small microchip about the size of her pinky nail, and gently Rose pulled the chip all the way out and put it into a small port on the bottom right side of the panel. Once in, Rose pressed a few buttons in a certain order and all of a sudden the lights in the room dimmed to a light blue light. "Oh ho man, this feels weird," the AI said, his voice filling the room. "Give a minute to run some diagnostics."

"Got it," the young woman said. "Okay Engineer, Wheatly will do most of the work here, but you'll be here to keep a lookout in case something goes wrong. You will also pick the destination and time of day. All you have to do is press these buttons for the coordinates," she pointed to a portion of the panel that the numbers 0-9, the letters N, W, E, and S, and some other symbols to help make coordinates for the VR, "And the buttons for the time of day. They're in military time too," she continued as she pointed to a digital clock with numbers at the bottom of it.

"Okay...I think I got it," he said, scratching his head underneath his yellow hardhat.

"Heh, it's okay if you don't," Rose reassured him, "Wheatly will be here to run you through things of something goes wrong. Speaking of which, almost done Wheatly?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah, just one more thing aaaand...done!" Wheatly said.

"Okay whatever Engineer puts it for coordinates, make it big enough for a one vs. one," Rose instructed.

"Hey Rose! Are we gonna duke it out or what!?" Scout yells from the other side of the room.

"What? In a hurry to lose, Scout?" Rose teased back.

"No, just want to get this done already. I have things to do y'know," Scout said crossing his arms.

"Hmph right, if that's what helps you sleep at night," Rose grinned.

"Gnh, hurry up Engineer!" Scout said, clearly getting impatient.

"Alright alright, keep yer pants on," Engineer said, "Rose, ya better get out there."

"Yeah, I suppose," she said as she made her way to the center of the room.

"Those of you not participating, please step outside the door," Wheatly instructed. "This will be broadcasted to the nearby televisions for viewing." All of the mercenaries groaned because they couldn't stay and watch, but they left to the garage and all sat around the television waiting for the match to start.

"Okay guys, hit it!" Rose exclaimed.

Engineer nodded and began typing in the coordinates and time for the match, and suddenly the room began to change. The door leading in closed and the simulation began to take shape; Rose saw as the white panels under her feet began to change into wood and the light inside became brighter, and warmer. The area around them began to take the shape of a bridge and the two mercenaries were on either end of it, with a small pond of water underneath them. Rose looked behind her and noticed a large, red-ish wooden structure take place with two entrances inside, and when it formed she looked towards Scout's side and a blue-ish concrete building began to form, also with two entrances inside. The small area they were in was fenced off with the fence stretching the length of the pond and bridge near both of the buidlings' entrances. As the map was forming, Rose kept taking mental notes, figuring out different ways to overcome her opponent, remembering his specialty was speed, and seeing if there was anything nearby she could use as a weapon; there wasn't much in the way of potential weapons, although there were a few creates and barrels on both sides that she might be able to use. Rose also remembered that Scout was more of an offensive player, so he might make the first move, and she had to plan on possible routes for herself, bothg offensive and defensive. She looked down again and noticed that the floorboards of the bridge were sturdy, but with enough force, could break. She then glanced above and noted the same with the awning over the bridge. Rose made up her mind with two end strategies that would allow her to win this, but then she looked at Scout and forgot to note something: he had his metal bat with him. _'Well that's not very fair,'_ she thought, but then waived it because that might actually help her win.

"Alright you two, we want a clean fight to see what you got," she heard Engineer talk over the intercom. "Medic will be on stand-by in case of an emergency. And to make this a little more interestin', the first one to hit the water below loses." Rose and Scout looked down, and Rose figured that would work best for one of her end games. "Okay, Wheatly? Care to countdown, pardner?"

"With pleasure! Ahem," the AI said, pretending to clear his throat, "10...9...8..." Rose had to think if she was going offensive or defensive, as Scout raised his bat in his right hand. "7...6...5..." then Rose noticed he was right dominant, both in footing and in hand, which gave her an idea. "4...3...2..." Rose braced her body, "1...GO!" and without a second thought, they both sprinted towards each other.

Scout was obviously faster, with him closing the gap between the two faster and Rose charging him at her full speed. When Scout was close enough, he swung down his bat with impressive agility, but Rose anticipated this and jumped her right at the beginning of his swing, jumping onto the wall that lined the bridge and once her footing was planted she swung her left foot right into Scout's face, basically punting it like a football, causing Scout to stagger backwards while holding his face, unsure of what just happened.

"Ungh! What da hell was dat crap!" he yelled, but before he could do anything else, Rose jumped down from the bridge close enough to Scout to where she was able to land in a crouch position and do a quick leg with her right leg.

All of a sudden, Scout could feel his legs being taken out from under him as he fell with a loud thud to the ground and his bat falling out from his hand. Rose quickly took the opportunity to dive for the bat to either take it for herself or at least get it away from Scout. However she underestimate how quickly the young merc would recover and before she could grasp the bat, Scout grabbed it, pushed himself back onto his feet from his hands and made a quick swing at Rose's back as she was about to turn around. Rose suddenly felt a massive pain shoot up her spine from the bat making contact and the velocity of Scout's swing.

"UGH CRAP!" Rose uttered as she tumbled forward, keeping her balance.

Scout was close behind and made a jump at her, bat high above his head ready to swing at hers, but right as he swung, she ducked to the left and as he landed she made a quick side kick to his face, making contact and causing him to lose balance again, landing against the wall on the other side of the bridge. Rose took the opportunity to charge at him, hoping to push him off the bridge, but Scout made another quick recovery, pushing off the fall and bringing his bat up to help block against Rose's charge. The two were having a shoving match until Scout dove onto his back, planting his feet on Rose's chest while she held onto the bat and lifting her with his feet with all his strength, and kicked her over the wall and off the bridge. Scout laid there, waiting for the inevitable splash, but was surprised to hear it never come. He quickly got up and ran to the edge, but cautiously peered over, thinking that Rose was just hanging over the edge waiting to pull him down. However, when he peered all the way over, he found no sign of her, nor any sign that anyone went into the water and as he scanned the edge a fist smashed its way through the bottom of the bridge and the hand grabbing onto his right ankle. Before Scout had time to react, Rose pulled down with as much force as she could muster and pulled Scout through the floorboards of the bridge and down into the water below, causing a big splash.

Rose hung to the bottom of the bridge while she looked at Scout who was splashing to gain his balance in the water, and when he did, he looked up from where he was pulled down to see Rose directly above him with a wide grin across her face. All he could do is pout at her as she dropped down to the water below, causing and even bigger splash. Rose brought herself up and before either one could say anything to the other, the scenery began to change again, and the two began to feel solid ground underneath them. The water disappeared as well as the bridge and the building that surrounded them. The warm light dissipated and the light blue light came back as well as the white tiles that surrounded the room. Much to Scout's surprise, he wasn't wet when the water went away and saw that Rose wasn't either.

"Ugh, well that didn't go as well as I thought," Scout said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Rose stretched her back as she bent slightly backwards, rubbing her back from the hit she took earlier. "Don't take it too hard, Scout," she assured, "That was one helluva hit you got me with. Medic's probably gonna have to pop some pieces into place."

"Yeah, well...you weren't too bad yourself Rose," he admitted.

"Whoa, was that an actual compliment, Scout?" Rose teased.

"Yeah, yeah, don't get used to it, girly," he said waving his finger at her.

"Hey, don't call me girly buddy, or else you'll find your Bonk drink filled with ghost chili powder," she warned.

"Wait, you'd do that?"

"You bet she would Scout," Wheatly said. "She's wicked scary when it comes to paybacks."

"Good to know!" Scout said with a nervous smile.

All of a sudden, the door opened to the rest of the mercenaries pooling into the room, cheering for the two of them for a good show, and for Rose who won with and unexpected turn. "Okay okay guys, give me a sec to go pull Wheatly out of the system," Rose said as she went to the control panel to meet up with Engineer.

"That sure was an impressive show, miss," he congratulated. "Didn't expect you to do that good with now weapons."

"Heh, you should have seen her earlier," Wheatly said as she prepped him to be pulled.

"Wheatly!" she scolded.

"Sorry, sorry! I forgot!" he said.

"It's fine. You ready?"

"Yup! Go for it!'

Rose then pulled the microchip from it's place in the control panel, and placed it back in her neuro-adapter. Engineer looked at her, both confused and concerned. "What?" she asked.

"Doesn't that hurt ya?" he asked.

"It did the first few times I did it way back when, but I've gotten used to it," she said making her way back to the group and Engineer followed behind. "Alright guys, as you saw, I did something unexpected in order to gain the upper hand right?" They all nodded in agreement. "Well, that's because I'm used to analyzing my surroundings and using what I don't have to my benefit. And I also used Scout's offensive tactic as my own, knowing that's how he was going to fight, and even though he got the better of me at that one point, I utilized the situation I had at hand to realize my end game, and that's what you saw."

"Wait, so you expected me to push you over the wall?" Scout scoffed at the plan.

"Well I had two end games, but that one worked on my favor so essentially it was a tactic I was hoping would happen," she explained. "And that, in turn, allowed me to succeed." All the mercenaries looked at her either with confusion or amazement, even a little of both. "All in all men, I would suggest doing one on one sessions to learn how to fight better in different scenarios. Mainly due to the fact that Mann's bots are basically designed off of you."

"Hmm, zhat's not a bad idea, Rose," Spy admitted. "I'm impressed."

"Thanks Spy. For now the machine needs a little rest since it hasn't really run for that long and Engineer and I need to work out a few kinks, but in all reality, this worked really well!"

"Yeah, you're welcome!" Scout teased. Rose just giggled.

"Alright guys," Rose began to finish, "go ahead and discuss who you want to fight against and when we are done in here you guys can get to work!"

The men became excited to train in the VR simulation after seeing Rose and Scout duke it out, and they all piled out of the room, leaving Rose and Engineer to do their work. As the two made their way back to the control panel, someone stayed behind that they didn't see.

"Rose? We need to talk," a female voice called out. Rose turned to see Ms. Pauling standing at the entrance of the room with a stern look on her face.


	17. New Enemy

The Tenth Class

Chapter 17: New Enemy

"Where were you two this morning?" Miss Pauling asked in a stern tone.

Rose, Medic, and Miss Pauling had moved from the VR room to the medical bay to get some privacy. All of the mercs were still downstairs in the garage buzzing about the training session Scout had with Rose except for Engineer who was getting better acquainted with the technology of the room. The three others, however were in the middle of the medical bay, Pauling standing, Rose sitting on the surgical bed, and Medic at his desk. Rose and Medic looked at each other for a second, then Rose spoke up.

"We went into town for some breakfast since there wasn't much to eat here," Rose began to explain.

"Okay, and that took you two an hour and a half just to get back," Pauling replied coldly.

"Well, we did go for a walk to ease up the food we just ate. Not to mention I didn't want to start training on a full stomach, it's never a good idea," Rose stated plainly and keeping calm. She glanced over to Medic who was doing the same, as he was just leaning back in his chair behind his desk.

"I don't suppose that walk had anything to do with two of the town muggers disappearing, would it?" the assistant asked, crossing her arms and glaring at Rose over her glasses.

"Maybe. And if it did, then it was because we were acting in self defense, and probably doing that town a favor, from the sounds of it," Rose said, mimicking Pauling with crossing her arms. Medic noticed and gave a sly smile. "Besides, who's going to miss two muggers that terrorize innocent people that are just trying to enjoy a walk around town?"

"You two aren't innocent people," Pauling sighed.

"We could've been!" Rose exclaimed. "But what I would like to know is how you found out? I thought we cleaned up the scene superbly."

"The guy you left conscious started screaming in Medic's cooler. Probably when he found his dead friend lying next him while he was tied up to a chair," Pauling explained. Both Rose and Pauling looked at Medic with stern looks.

"Vhat? I zhought I gave him enough knock-out medicine to last zhe day. It's not my fault he has a fast metabolism that burned it all off," Medic stated defensively.

"I told you we should have removed his voice-box before we put him in there," Rose added as she stuck her nose in the air, arms still crossed. Medic gave a small sigh.

"Look, regardless of his state of consciousness, you guys..."Pauling trailed off, and Medic and Rose tensed at the incoming punishment, "Did a really great job!"

The two mercs stared at Pauling, completely surprised at her statement. "Wait wait wait...you're not mad?" Rose quizzed, completely befuddled.

"At first, because you guys were gone for so long without telling anyone, but you two did do the town a favor by getting rid of those two muggers," she explained. "They were terrorizing the townsfolk and any people passing by, not to mention you guys did such a good job keeping it under wraps, that I didn't even notice and have to go and clean up afterwords!"

This time Miss Pauling was smiling and the two mercs honestly didn't know what to say. After a short quiet moment, Rose spoke up, "So you have to do clean up duty after these guys? They can't clean up a scene on their own?"

"Vell, Rose, most of zhem don't really care. Zhe few of us zhat do are only Spy, Engineer, Sniper and myself, on occasion," Medic stated.

"Not only that, but the Administrator always has me running errands for her, and sometimes its a clean up mission, and more often than not, it is after the mercenaries," the assistant said, looking down at the floor. "Matter of fact, I only get one day off a year, because there's always things that needs doing, and people that need killing."

"Hmmm, seriously?" Rose said, getting of the surgical bed and standing up. "That's dumb."

"What?" Pauling said looking up at Rose who was now standing in front of her.

"I mean, if you are putting all this effort in doing that old hags errands, and you only get one day off a year, I'd say that's a pretty one-sided work relationship," she stated. Pauling stood up straight, her face now showing sternness.

"Look, you don't understand..." she stated as she pointed a finger at Rose. "The Administrator is...she can…" she began to stutter, and rethink what she was going to say. "Alright look, I don't want to get into this right now. You guys did a great job with those two muggers, but next time, let someone know when you're leaving, okay?"

Rose and Medic looked at each other again with confused looks. "Okay, Pauling. We'll let someone know next time, I promise," Rose said as she backed up back to the surgical bed.

"Thank you," Pauling said with a sigh. "Anyways, better get back to you're training. I'm sure there will be someone else challenging you, Rose, especially after that performance with Scout."

"Heh yeah, I guess you're right," Rose said with a soft smile.

"If anything comes up with Gray, you will be the first to know, Rose," the assistant said as she began to make her way out.

"Oh okay, thanks Pauling!" Rose said. As soon as Rose knew Miss Pauling was out and no where near the doors to the medical bay, she turned to Medic. "What was that about?" she asked pointing her thumb to the doors.

"Hmm, vell Miss Pauling and zhe Administrator have been vorking together for a vhile. Matter of fact, she vas vorking for her before I joined zhe team, and zhat vas a long time ago," the German explained.

"Huh, well I guess that's why she got a bit defensive," Rose said softly. "But that doesn't excuse the fact that that woman is working poor Pauling to the bone. One day off a year? That's bull..."

"Vell Rose, you don't know zhe full extent of zhe situation," Medic said, standing up from his chair. "Zhere could be more going on zhan you know."

"Yeah, and that's what worries me," Rose said, staring at the door. The two were quiet for a moment when Heavy burst through the double doors, scaring Rose and Medic to where the doctor jumped and Rose backed up into the surgical bed and fell on top and over it, landing on the floor on the other side.

"Rose should fight Heavy in fancy room!" the giant Russian bellowed.

"God dammit, Heavy!" Rose yelled as she slowly got up from the floor. "Ya don't have to burst in here like that if you wanted to challenge me!"

"Hmph, maybe next time you be more prepared," Heavy scoffed with a smirk spreading across his face.

"Yeah, I'll try and remember that next time," she said sarcastically. "Anyways, why do you want to challenge me? The others can train with you, too."

"Those are baby men," he scoffed. "Heavy wants real challenge. Unless you are too much of little girl to fight."

"You better watch it, bub," Rose pointed a finger at him threateningly, "Or else Medic here is gonna have to patch you up sooner than you think."

"Eheh, don't bring me into zhis," Medic said putting both his hands up.

"Heh, then let us fight!" the Russian exclaimed.

"Ugh, fine I suppose..." Rose sighed, then smiled at the thought of the challenge. "Do you want to fight with weapons or..."

"No, fists only," Heavy stated, crossing his big arms across his chest.

"Okay, okay, but um," Rose looked down at her fists, then looked at his, "Ya might have me a bit out matched there pal."

"Hm, you will do fine, you beat Scout. He is fastest, but I am strongest," Heavy boasted.

"Well, I guess," Rose said as she shrugged her arms and made her way out of the medical bay, Heavy and Medic not to far behind.

The three made their way down the hallway to the second floor and then down to the garage where everyone was hanging out. Spy and Engineer were talking about something while Demo was downing another bottle of whiskey by Pyro and Soldier who were cheering his on, and Scout was sitting by Sniper, who was cleaning his Kukri. Once the other three walked down the stairs, everyone stopped what they were doing and stared. Rose paused confused as to why they were staring, then it dawned on her.

"You told them you were going to spar with me, didn't you?" she asked as she turned to Heavy. The giant man just shrugged with a smile, and she gave a small sigh. "Yes, we are going to train." Some of the men cheered as others gave a worried look.

"Ya want me to get'er started then, Rose?" Engineer asked.

"Yup, I'll go plug Wheatly in, and you can get it fired up," she said as they made their way to the training room. "Wheatly?"

"Hmm, yeah?" the AI asked.

"Get ready for another pull," she instructed.

"Wow, two in one day? You sure are a busy lady," he teased.

"Yup, it would seem that way," she said as she walked up to the control panel again. "You ready?"

"Yup, whenever you are," he replied. The Rose went through the same routine as before and got him inside the panel. The lights dimmed blue again, and Rose turned to Engineer.

"Okay, he said he wanted a fist fight, so that's what we're doing," she informed him.

"Uh you sure that's such a good idea, miss?" the Texan asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Heavy may be strong, but I like to think I'm a tad bit more cunning," Rose assured.

"Heh well alrighty then," Engineer said with a smile and stepped behind the controls. Rose met Heavy in the center of the room, both waiting for the room to change again.

The doors closed and the room dimmed, with the temperature of the room slowly going down. Rose shivered slightly, wondering what kind of coordinates Engineer put in but as she looked down to feet, she saw what looked like snow starting to cover them. _'What in the world?'_ Rose thought as a cold win brushed passed her, the sky above showed nothing but gray clouds, and she brought her gaze up to see the terrain forming around her: immediately around her formed what looked like a broken down house, missing a roof and most of its walls behind Rose and Heavy, as well as some of the walls to their sides. There was snow everywhere and Rose turned around to see nothing but rock ledges behind her, and when she looked behind Heavy she say the same thing. _'Geez, you guys aren't going to make it easy for me are you?'_ she mused to herself.

As the map finished loading Rose weighed her advantages and disadvantages, as well as all of her options; she knew Heavy was a defensive player most of the time with his mini-gun, but from what Engineer had said, he isn't shy with personal confrontation, and knew one or two hits from him and she'd be down for the count. Playing offensively might not be the best course of action, but she might have to go that way a few times. She studied the giant Russian and tried to see if there were any flaws she could come with; the fact that he is so big would give her an advantage of speed, and if she stayed low, she could miss most of his swings. Rose then examined her environment to see if there was anything that could help give her an end plan, but she couldn't see much from within the beaten down house, so she might have to travel outside to see if there was anything. That would mean improvising and playing defensively. The only thing she couldn't figure out is how to start this, and the one thing she was sure of was to steer clear of his fists.

"Okay you two," Engineer began over the microphone, "Now this map was actually requested Rose, sorry 'bout that." Rose glared at Heavy as she began to rub her arms.

"You're not going to make this easy, are ya big guy?" she said, still glaring. Heavy just smiled as he cracked his knuckles, sending small shivers down her spine. "Good. I like a challenge."

"Now, this is a fair fight, only using yer fists and the environment around you. No weapons," Engineer stated. "Wheatly, if ya would please, fella."

"My pleasure, Engineer. Ahem," Wheatly got ready to count down like before. "3...2…1...GO!"

And without a second thought Heavy charged the young woman, yelling and his right fist cocked back and ready for the first blow. Rose noticed and began to play defensively and as the giant man's fist came dangerously close to her face, Rose jumped back far enough to where she was just outside the walls of the house and used the short moment to glance around; she noticed nothing of importance to either side of her and before she could make any mental notes, Heavy was already on top her, left fist ready for contact. Without hesitation, Rose ducked to the right and made a mad sprint to that side of the house, Heavy not too far behind. As she rounded the corner she noticed a big white propane tank halfway buried in the snow, which sparked an idea in her head. The only problem was staying conscious enough to form a plan, so she kept running planning to make a full run around the house.

As she continued to run, Rose examined the broken down house noting how easy it would be to climb if she needed to. She also noted how far ahead she was getting in front of Heavy, who now had both arms stretched out in front of him and still running, ready to grab her once she slowed down. She kept running and rounded the other side of the building as she saw nothing of note again but still continued to figure out a plan to take out her rival. Without noticing, however, she tripped on a rock that was slightly buried underneath the snow, and she came tumbling down face first into the snow, now realizing she had a new problem to deal with. Not hesitating she pushed herself onto her back to see the giant Russian barreling over her, closing in with arms stretched out to grab her, but before he could she rolled over to her right, into the house, and started to get on her feet as quickly as she could. As she planted her right foot down to take off again, she felt a firm hand grab her left ankle and pull her back down to the ground.

"Hahaha! Heavy has you now!" the Russian boasted as he dragged her closer.

"Heh that's what you think, big guy," Rose retorted, as she pulled her right leg towards her chest and kicked upward with the heel of her foot right into Heavy's jaw, causing the man to reel back in pain. That gave Rose enough time to get back on her feet and run as fast as she could to the other side of the building, trying to get out of Heavy's line of sight.

"AHHHH! Heavy will get you for that!" he yelled behind her, but that didn't deter her from her mission. She made it to the other side of the building and ran behind the little bit of wall to her left and once she knew she was out of his sight, she began to climb as quickly and quietly as she could. Heavy on the other hand thought that she was just going to run around the building again and when he went to the side that he saw her run to, he noticed that she was no where to be found.

"Where are you little girl? Heavy just wants to play..." the Russian said menacingly.

"I really wished people would quit calling me that today," Rose whispered to herself as she made to the beams that were supposed to hold a roof at the top of the building.

Rose ducked onto the top beam to stay out of the giant's sight and waited for him to make his way around the side of the building so she could crawl her way to the propane tank to start her end game plan. She watched as Heavy slowly made his way around the next corner and she began to make her way to the side of the building as quietly as she could and not taking her eyes off the giant. Heavy still could not find her around the ground and was expecting her to bust through the walls like she did on the bridge with Scout, not bothering to look up. He walked to the center of the building and stood still, putting his hands on his hips, trying to see if he can spot her, but unbeknownst to him, Rose was already on top of the propane tank and was trying to figure out how to let gas out of it. Now that she was closer to it, Rose examined the tank noting the place on top where there should be a valve of some sort but looking to her left saw a type of ventilation system that seemed to be working since it was giving off a whirring noise, gave Rose an idea; with enough force to the top of the mechanism, it could break the components inside, allowing a spark to happen somewhere and would cause the gas inside to ignite. Her only problem was getting the force to land on top.

Rose looked around quickly and noticed that there wasn't anything to help her, until she heard Heavy shuffle on the other side of the wall. This prompted her to climb back up to the roof beam and saw the Russian make his way back to the side of the building where they had their skirmish, and then another idea sparked in her head. As Heavy was concentrated on the walls and corners of the building, the young merc waited until he was just passing the corner to stand up on the beam and clap her hands.

"Huh?" Heavy grunted as he looked up and saw Rose standing there on top of the building keeping her balance on the beam with a devilish grin on her face. "Hey tough guy, betcha' can't climb up here and get me. With your weight, you'd probably break the beam with no effort at all, huh?" she teased.

"Argh, Heavy will break you instead!" he threatened as he began climbing over the propane tank towards the top of the building.

Rose took the time to back up on the beam to allow his some space when he got up her to stand, and positioned herself almost in a running pose on the other side of the beam. Once Heavy reached the top, he placed his feet of the beam trying to keep his balance and looked up at Rose, who was ready for ready for him. But before he could even say a word, Rose darted forward, her feet keeping contact with the beam and Heavy brought up his fists ready to fight, unaware of what Rose had planned next. She took a few steps towards him and right as he was beginning to swing his right arm for her, Rose jumped off the side of the beam to her left, and as she fell to the floor below she grabbed the beam with her right hand then her left, and with as force as she could, swung her body around the beam feet helping her curve the swing. Once she made a full swing she brought her feet in an upward motions towards Heavy, who was now completely caught off guard, unsure of what was going on, and with all of her might, kicked the giant man right in his side, hitting the lower portion of his rib cage, causing him to both recoil in pain and lose his balance and fall back.

However, Rose kicked him in such an angle to where he fell off the building and right on top of the vent on the propane tank and rolled onto the snowy ground below. Rose landed on the floor of the house and ran out the side and around the corner to see the giant man slowly getting up, and grunting along the way. She then turned her attention to the tank and saw that the vent had been busted up like she had planned, and was making unnatural noises, but hadn't ignited anything like she had hoped. Her heart sank and her shoulders slumped as she saw Heavy fully get back to his feet, rubbing his back and turning his attention back to her, the most furious look on his face.

"Well, shit," Rose said curtly as he slowly began to make his way over to her.

"Grrrrr," the giant Russian growled.

Rose began to back up slowly, knowing that her plan didn't work and was in the process of coming up with a new one when the two mercenaries heard a clicking noise come from the vent. Heavy stopped and turned to the propane tank that he was standing next to, and Rose noticed how a sudden spark lighted, and without a second thought, dove down to her right, trying to get out of the way as an immediate explosion happened, blowing up most of what was left of the house and shaking the ground underneath. Rose covered her head and waited to get up until she was sure that no shrapnel didn't his her, and once she knew she was safe, she immediately got up and looked around for her sparing partner.

She looked around until she saw a large figure leaning up against a fence post on the ground, not moving. "Heavy!" she shouted. She ran over to his side and was about to check his pulse when his right hand suddenly grabbed her shirt. "Ooooh crap," she whispered as he slowly got back to his feet, lifting her along the way until she was about a foot off the ground. "Heh-hey buddy, you're not too mad that I blew you up, ri-ight," she said, voice wavering. She could feel his grip tighten on the collar of her t-shirt as he lifted his head to show a face full on anger. "Yeah, I thought you would be," Rose sighed.

Without hesitation, Heavy brought his left fist behind him and jetted it towards her head, but quick thinking as she was, used the same swinging motion she used earlier to bring her whole body onto his arm that was still holding her shirt, and miss his swing by mere centimeters. The sudden weight on his caused Heavy to lose his grip on Rose's shirt and while she was still being held up by his arm, Rose brought her left leg up to her chest and kicked back, planting her foot firmly into his face. Suddenly, Heavy's arm dropped from under her and she fell straight to the ground below as Heavy once again reeled back in pain, now furious from being kicked in the face so many times.

"Quit kicking Heavy in face!" he shouted, his hands over his nose.

"Quit calling me a little girl!" Rose retorted as she brought her left leg around for a leg sweep. The giant merc then toppled to the ground with a thud and Rose took the opportunity to jump onto the Russians chest while he was down, knocking whatever air was left out and causing Heavy to get dizzy. "Call me little girl one more freakin' time and see what happens!" she said threateningly as she grabbed his shirt with her left hand and made a fist with her right and held it back for a punch.

Heavy took a moment to catch his breath and realize that he was on the ground, with Rose sitting on his chest ready and waiting to get him in his face again, her expression just as serious as his was just a moment ago. He looked at her for a moment, both of them locking eyes, and then he broke the silence with a hardy laugh. "HAHAHAHA! Okay okay, Heavy will not call Rose little girl anymore!"

Rose's tension loosened and her expression lightened. "Promise?" she said, still holding her fist in the air.

"Haha, yes yes. Heavy promises," he said holding his hands up showing surrender. "Heavy will call you…BOИH." Rose looked at him with confusion, as he chuckled again. "Heh, it means 'warrior' in Russian."

"Oh, well, thank you Heavy!" Rose said, bring her fist down and letting go of Heavy's shirt. "Sorry for, like, exploding you and stuff." Rose got up off the Russian's chest and extended her hand hand to help him up.

"It's okay. Heavy's been through worse," he stated as he took Rose's hand and brought himself up and brushed himself off.

"Well I figured after you stood straight up from the explosion and still took a kick to the face," she said putting her hand on her hips. "But I'm sure Medic'll still need to fix ya up."

"This...this is true," the giant man said as he took a step forward and felt his whole body scream to him in pain.

Suddenly, the whole area around them began to blur and shake as the simulation came to an end, and the room came into focus, a light blue light showing their surroundings. Heavy and Rose looked over to Engineer whose jaw was almost hitting the floor in shock as to what had just transpired. The two mercs looked at each other, then let out a laugh.

"Geez Engineer, don't look to surprised there," Rose teased.

The Texan shook his head and got his thought together. "Uh, ahem, what in tarnation happened there!" he said, still unsure of what happened.

"What do ya mean?" Rose asked, tilting her head. It was her turn to be confused.

"That whole outcome shoulda' come out in Heavy's favor...but...damn..." he said as he stepped down from the control panel.

"Well, in all honesty, while Heavy did have the mass superiority, as well as the muscle to take her out in only a few hits, Rose's agility and quick thinking along with her utilizing her surroundings again, allowed her to beat him in the end," Wheatly analyzed.

"Be that as it may, Wheatly, Heavy should have beaten me," Rose admitted. "I won't lie, I was expecting him to do so, but I guess my fight or flight response kicked into gear at max, forgetting I was in a simulation. That, and he kept calling me a little girl." Rose glared at the Russian, who just shrugged with a sheepish grin. "But yeah, I didn't realize how intimidating he was until I was on the ground the first time."

"Heh, yeah we all have had our experience with the big fella," Engineer said. He had walked over to the two and patted Heavy on the back. "Some of us more than others though."

"I bet," Rose laughed. "Anyways, I'll go pull Wheatly and meet you guys in the garage with the others. Heavy, go have Medic patch you up, I'm sure you need it."

The two men nodded and turned for the door that Wheatly just opened as Rose made her way over to the control panel. "Ready pal?" she asked.

"You bet!" the AI said, and she pulled the small chip from the panel and put it back where it belonged. "Oh it feels good to be back."

"Heh, it's a little exhausting running the machine, huh?" Rose asked.

"Eh, just a little. But that fight took longer than your last one," Wheatly pointed out.

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting that either," she admitted.

"Oi, for the record, I knew you'd win," he said.

"Well I'm glad one of us did. I thought for a few good times there that he had me."

"You? Nah! I knew you'd pull through! You always do," he said reassuringly.

"Heh, thanks Wheatly. Let's get back to the others," Rose finished as she made her way to the door. She knew her fight with Heavy was just a training simulation, but in the back of her mind, she knew that one day she'll be put into a situation that she wouldn't be able to luck her way out of. She didn't want to think about that right now though, she just wanted to get some rest.

She walked through the door of the VR room and the whole room lit up with cheers. Everyone, including Heavy, was clapping for her epic fight with the largest and toughest member of their team. Rose smiled, happy to be apart of such a talented group of mercenaries, and was happy to just take the rest of the day to relax, and maybe work with Medic on his plans for the muggers from earlier.

* * *

It was a few days since the battle at Decoy, a base Rose and some of the mercenaries built to trick Gray Mann to using up a great deal of his resources. Since then, most of their time has been spent in the VR training room Rose had built when she first arrived and all of them wanted to train with Rose after her sessions with Scout and then Heavy. Rose has been understanding more of what they can do in a fight training with them one on one, but she had been wanting to do some more team based exercises instead of them just trying to see if they could take her down. Although the only one that came close to beating her so far was Heavy, and after sparing with Soldier, Demoman, and Pyro, the others were itching to try their hand.

Taking on Soldier was a bit of a challenge in itself because of his rocket jumping abilities, but Rose was able to curve that real quick when she set up a trap on the other side of a building where she knew he was going to land. Demoman wasn't too difficult, although his placement of sticky bombs in certain areas almost caught the young woman off guard, she was able to simply confuse him in the end with taunts since he was so intoxicated. Pyro was an interesting challenge, but Rose found it quiet enjoyable to play fire with fire, and the whole session had come to a stalemate when the two ended up sitting down together to watch a wooden building they had set on fire in their battle to best one another.

It seemed that everyday she had a new challenger and today was no different; while trying an experiment with a mugger's brain and some quite large vegetables with Medic, Spy wanted to be the next one to try and take down Rose. Her and the doctor were hard at work with their patient, when they both heard a knock at the double doors leading into the medical bay.

"Eh come in!" Medic shouted over his shoulder as he was still trying to gently pull the brain out it's host's skull.

"So what exactly were you going to do with this guys brain, Medic?" Rose asked as she helped hold open the top of the skull. She was wearing a normal light red surgical over-coat and the proper medical gloves and head gear, while Medic was simply wearing what looked like a butcher's apron on top of his normal clothes that he wears under his doctor's coat.

"Ernst? I already told you, Rose, ve are going to insert his brain in the large squash I had acquired earlier yesterday vhile you vere fighting Pyro," he explained.

"Right, and I'm assuming that the only reason that you'd think that that's a good idea is to see if the veggie has any organic properties to keep a human brain alive?" Rose inquired, trying to guess the German's motives as to doing something like this.

"Vell, zhat and it's fun to mess vith people's minds!" he said with a low chuckle.

"Wait...was that…was that a pun?" Rose said, hoping that it was because it was a little funny, but also hoping not because this was a serious matter.

"Hmmmm, maybe," Medic said as he glanced up at her over the rim of his glasses and smiled. Rose let out a small giggle, then coughed to try and regain her composure.

"Medic, I'm ashamed of you," she said sternly. "You should know better. This is no laughing... _matter_ ," she said as she poked at the man's gray matter. Medic stood up straight and looked her right in the eyes. After a short moment of silence, the two broke out in howling laughter at the silliness of the two jokes.

"Ehem, if you two are quite done," Spy interrupted as he walked up behind Medic. Rose and Medic's laughter subsided but their smiles still lingered, "Can you take a moment from desecrating zhat body. I would like to formally issue a challenge to you Rose."

Rose's smile slowly faded as she looked at Spy, who was calmly standing there. " _You_ want to do a session, Spy?" Rose asked as she let go of the man's skull top. "Why?"

"Well, why not?" he asked as he pulled a cigarette and lighter from inside of his suit. He was about to light it when Medic leaned over and grabbed the cigarette from Spy's mouth with his currently bloody hand.

"Heh, no smoking in here, herr Spy. You know zhat..." he said sternly.

"Hm, my apologies, dear doctor," the Frenchman said wiping his face to make sure no blood got on him. "Anyways, I would just like to try my hand at sparring against one of our very best."

"Well, I know I'm pretty good, but I don't think I'm the best, Spy," Rose said. She waled over to the other side of the room where there was a waste bin and began to take off her surgical gear. "Besides, I know Miss Pauling wanted to talk to all of us here in a few about something, and I'm sure it has something to do with Gray."

"Surely you could spare some time for a sparring match," Spy began to calmly ask.

"Well, maybe, and I would love to, I would. I've been actually waiting for you to offer a challenge because I've wanted to see what you can do one on one, but if this meeting has something to do with Gray, then I want my head in that one," Rose explained as she walked over to the mask man, fully back in her red t-shirt, dark blue jeans and camouflage cap.

"Hmm, I understand," Spy said, a little woeful.

"But I promise, either after the meeting or after whatever mission we might go on, you will be the first person to go back into the VR room with me once we're done," Rose assured. "Then we both get to see what we can do!"

"I do like zhe sound of that," Spy said. "Very well, zhen! You'd better be prepared we do fight."

"Oh you better believe I'll be. Just don't call me 'little girl' okay?" she warned. "Remember what happened with Heavy?"

"Yes, well, zhe fat man had it coming," Spy mentioned, and Rose gave him a glare. "But rest assured, miss, I will call you no such zhing," he said with a slight bow.

"Alright then, go ahead and get ready for the meeting. It should start here in about half an hour or so, and I want everyone to be ready and aware."

"Bien sûr, madame," Spy said, and began to make his way out the doors. Once out of sight, Rose turned to Medic.

"Alrighty, doc. That being said, we should probably clean up and get ready ourselves," Rose suggested.

"Ah yes, I couldn't agree more!" he said as he turned back to the body. "I vill just vheel zhis back to zhe cooler until we are ready to continue our procedure," he said.

"Sounds good, doc. I'm going to clean myself off a bit, so I'll be back. Meet here in fifteen?" she asked. Medic gave and approving nod and they both went their separate ways.

As Rose walked into her room to grab some things to take a quick shower with, Wheatly came up and broke the silence. "No laughing _matter_? Are you serious?" he asked.

"What? It was the perfect opportunity," she explained. "Don't tell me you wouldn't have done the same thing."

"If I'm being honest? I was going to say that if you didn't," the AI admitted.

"Yeah that's what I thought," Rose teased. She made her way to the bathrooms near the end of the hallway, and proceeded with her shower. Luckily the shower only took about ten minutes, and with extra five it took her to get dressed again, she made her way back to the medical bay. Once she entered the room, she waited near his desk for Medic to return so they could make their way to the recreation room for the meeting Pauling set up.

Rose was hoping the meeting was about Gray, and if they had heard anything about what he might be up to since the battle at Decoy. He'd been laying low for the past few days and that kind of worried her, since she didn't like being in the dark about things, especially something this big. After a minute or two, her mind drifted to Spy's request to challenge her in the VR room; for a moment she was excited about the thought of it, but then remembered what he was capable of. Rose mentally went over the arsenal that Engineer told her he had, which mainly consisted of a Revolver pistol, a butterfly knife, a disguise pack, an electric sapper, and most importantly his camouflage device. Rose froze; she'd never dealt with anyone who could disappear at a moments notice. She wondered on how she could fight something she couldn't see when the doors flew open to show Medic, now fully dressed in all of his gear and all cleaned up.

"Huh, you clean up pretty well Medic," Rose complemented, meeting him in the center of the room.

"Danke, fräulein!" Medic thanked. "You don't look so bad yourself."

"Heh thanks," Rose said. "C'mon, we'd better get down there or else Pauling is gonna gripe at us again."

Medic nodded and the two made their way to the recreation room. Once there they looked to the back of the room to see everyone near a table to the back that Rose hadn't noticed before. There was a single light showing down to show Miss Pauling along with some of the other mercenaries, standing around a map that was spread around the table. Pauling was standing in the center of the table with Heavy to her right, followed up by Soldier, Sniper, Demo, Spy, Scout – who was currently oogling her – and Rose and Medic joined right next to Engineer. Once everyone was there, Pauling began the meeting.

"Okay guys, the reason I called this meeting was to discuss any plans involving Gray Mann and his army of robots," the assistant began to explain. _'Thought so,'_ Rose thought to herself. "Now here's the thing; I have no idea what he's up to and where he's going to strike next. I went over the notes Rose and I went over a few weeks ago, but nothing came up concrete enough to form a plan, or help with a course of action." The mercs all looked at one another, but Rose concentrated on any ideas that she could come with that could form a plan.

"The robots are going to attack the Mann Co. facility at 20 Gravel Pit Way at exactly thirteen hundred hours tomorrow. We will never see it coming," Soldier stated.

Pauling kept thinking while Rose looked at him, confused more than anything on how precise that sounded. "Wait, Soldier how...how do you know that?" Rose asked.

"The robots told me! When I infiltrated their secret robot meeting last night!" he said with a sly grin.

"Wait, you...did what?" Rose said in befuddlement. Pauling looked up as equally as confused, while some of the others rolled their eyes.

"Oh c'mon you guys," Scout said crossing his arms. "You ain't seriously going to believe that, are ya?"

"Well, I mean his idea for the fake base worked flawlessly, Scout," Rose pointed out. "It wouldn't be so farfetched to think he could actually pull something like this off."

"Hmm, you do have a point, Rose," the assistant agreed. "Soldier, can you show us how you were able to do this?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Soldier said.

Pauling and Rose began to follow the war dog down the hall to where a room led off to a bunch of lockers, everyone else adjourning the meeting. The two ladies followed Soldier to his locker and he paused in front of it.

"Are you two ladies braced? Because you will need to brace yourself for what I am about to show you!" Soldier said as he cracked open his locker. The two women looked at just looked at each other.

"We're braced, Soldier. Let's see it," Miss Pauling said.

"Are you sitting down? Because you should _not_ be in a comfortable bowel-emptying position for what I am about to show you," he warned.

"Dude, we're both standing. You're looking right at us as you're talking to us," Rose pointed out.

"Okay, but are you pregnant? You should _not_ be-"

"SOLDIER!" they both yelled.

"Okay, okay!" Soldier said, and in a matter of seconds Soldier pulled a box with red plastic cups for eyes and a rectangular cut out for the mouth. " **BEEP BOOP! I AM A ROBOT!** " he exclaimed, trying to move like a robot. Rose and Pauling just stared at him without saying a word, then glanced over to one another. "Beep boo – Rose? Miss Pauling? Don't be scared, I'm not actually a robo-"

"That's epic," Rose interrupted.

"Make us some," Pauling demanded. "We're coming with you."

"Totes!" Rose said in agreement, pumping her arms into the air.

"Wait," the three froze as Heavy walked up to them. "This is stupid idea. Heavy will come too."

"I'm pretty sure we'll be just fine, Heavy," Rose tried to reassure the big guy.

"No. Heavy is coming," the Russian stated. Knowing that she probably couldn't persuade the man otherwise, Rose shrugged in agreement.

And with that the four of them were suited up and heading out to and undisclosed location to another secret meeting.

* * *

It was a few hours since Rose, Miss Pauling, Heavy and Soldier left the base only to find themselves deep in enemy territory. Rose was still a little weary on how Soldier was able to secure a ride to Gray Mann's facility, but then thought it best now to question it, thinking she might jinx them. The all had followed the herd of robots to a gathering in a large room, but decided it was best to stay in the back as to not draw attention to themselves. They were all wearing boxes on their heads, the same make as Soldier's, along with what appeared to be the tubing from the back of dryers.

All four of them stood at attention as they looked over the crowd of robots, trying to listen to what Gray was saying. "Wait, so that short guy up on stage is him?" Rose asked in a whispered tone.

"Yeah, I guess. Doesn't seem all to threatening," Pauling whispered back.

"Would you two be quiet?!" Wheatly whispered, trying not to raise his own voice. "It's hard to hear the old jerk when people are talking!"

"Whoops, sorry," Rose apologized. Rose looked at Gray, wondering why she didn't just bring a poison dart gun or something when she realized the giant blue tarp right next to Gray. "Wheatly, what's under that tarp?" she asked.

"Hmm, not sure. If only I had some sort of x-ray vision. Oh wait! I don't..." he whispered. "Now shush."

"Geez, okay." All of a sudden, the robots all shouted _ **ALL HAIL THE MAKER**_! And the four then became quiet again as the old man spoke.

"Ahh, the 'hailing' circuit. My one moment of weakness. Yes, all hail me. But for my _latest_ creation, I've replaced all that rote worshipping circuitry with raw computational power," they heard him explain as he walked over to the blue tarp. "May I present the _**smartest**_ addition to the Gray Mann army..." he began as he pulled off the tarp. Rose's stomach sank as she saw the machine underneath. "The Mecha-Engineer! You may all hail now."

 _ **ALL HAIL THE MAKER!**_

"Pauling, does that look like…" Rose began.

"Engineer? Yeah..." Pauling finished.

"Um, guys, we miiiight have a problem," Wheatly warned. Suddenly the Engineer-bot began to whiz and whir as it came to life.

 **SCANNING…** the bot began as it surveyed the room.

"Oh crap," Rose said.

The metal man then lifted it's arm and pointed to directly to the four of them. **HUMANS.**

"Ohhhh boy. I'd hate to be those humans right now," Soldier whispered as he began to pick his nose.

"Now is time to run," Heavy said.


	18. Caution

The Tenth Class

Chapter 18: Caution

"Pauling! Look out!" Rose shouted as she grabbed the nearest pistol. Pauling paused her running and looked to her left as she saw a Scout-bot brings it's metal bat down above her, but before it could make contact, Rose put a bullet straight through the head, and the bot fell to the ground with a crash. "Let's go! Soldier and Heavy are clearing the way for us!"

"Don't need to tell me twice!" Pauling and Rose started running again. The two women had abandoned their costumes with the other mercs as they were running away from the mass amount of robots chasing them.

Soldier's reconnaissance idea had backfired and the four had found themselves running for their lives on what Rose could only assume was Gray Mann's base of operations. But even though they were in a bit a rough patch, Rose could only smile at her situation due to all of the information they had gathered; the fact that there was a new robot in play, the location of Gray and his robots and who Gray was. As Rose and Miss Pauling were slowly catching up to the other two mercs, and Heavy-bot stepped in front of them, causing the two to halt their run to a dead stop.

"Whoa, crap!" Rose said as she jumped back from the giant robot's metal fist that darted for her. From what she saw, the bot had what looked like blue metal boxing gloves and nothing else. She was relieved that it didn't have a mini-gun, but still knew that she didn't have time to fight it with the army of robots chasing them. "Pauling, stay behind me. When I say, make a break for the others."

"But what about -" the assistant started.

"Trust me."

Without another word, Rose darted for the giant robot with the pistol she picked up earlier drawn. She fired five shots towards the robots chest, causing it to stagger, which gave her enough time to close the short gap between them. Once close enough, she launched herself in the air with her left foot, and planted her right foot in the middle of the robot's chest, causing him to stagger back even more, and eventually lose its balance. It was only down for a few seconds before it slowly started to get back up.

"Pauling, go now!" she shouted behind her. The assistant nodded and ran as fast as she could to the others, who they could see about fifty yards ahead of them. Rose kept her eyes on Pauling until the Heavy-bot stood up fully, blocking her view.

All of a sudden the robot charged her, right arm cocked back for a punch. Rose let him get within hitting distance and as soon as it swung its giant metal hand, Rose ducked to the right, sticking her tight foot out to trip up the robot, and it fell to the ground with a thundering thud. Before the robot could start getting up, Rose jumped on its back, and quickly put two more bullets in the back of its head, and the robot quit moving.

"Rose, don't mean to be pushy, but there are quite a few enemies quickly closing in," she heard Wheatly's voice. "Might I suggest running. Like NOW!"

"Right," she said without hesitation. "How far are the others?"

"They're just under fifty yards away."

"Good. Hopefully we can catch up without any more interruptions."

"Agreed."

Rose kept running at a steady pace, as to not short herself out, and was relieved that Miss Pauling was still safe as she ran up to Soldier and Heavy. From what Rose could see, her teammates had picked up some weapons from some downed robots, which was good, but also noticed that they were looking worse for wear. As she continued running, Rose looked around to see if she could find anything to aid her fellow mercs and just passed by a Medic-bot that looked like it had its chest punched through. She paused, looked at its medi-gun, then walked over to see if she could take it off. Unfortunately, however, the pack was welded on the robots back, and Rose kicked it out of frustration. She looked around again, and saw that two of the Sniper-bots had dropped their Submachine Guns, which appeared to be modified MAT-49s, just without rear sights or their distinguishable folding stocks, and went to see how many bullets the magazines held. Much to her surprise, they were both still full with 25 bullets each, and without a second thought Rose took both in her hands and ran towards her teammates.

"Wheatly, are there any areas nearby with a source of transportation?" she huffed as she ran.

"Hmmm, scanning...sorry this place is bigger than I expected and I, oh! Yeah, there is a garage with a few vehicles about another fifty yards Northwest of our current location! I can guide you there as we go!" the AI explained.

"Good. I'll let the others know."

Rose kept running and keeping and eye of the others; Heavy looked like he ran out of ammo for the machine gun he picked up, and was now using a shotgun, while Soldier was using a combination of a fold-able spade shovel and a sawed-off shot gun. She also saw Miss Pauling, who was not holding her own with a pistol she had picked up, shooting any bots that got too close that the others had missed. Rose finally caught up to the trio and was relieved to see that they were all in the clear for now.

"Rose made it!" Heavy shouted with joy. "Heavy was beginning to worry fellow comrade was in trouble."

"There's no hippie robot that take her down!" Soldier joined.

"Heh," Rose panted, slightly winded. "Thanks guys. But focus, Wheatly told me that there is a garage Northwest of us about another fifty yards, and we need to get there now if we want to get off this rock."

"Sounds like a plan!" Miss Pauling said. "Let's get outta here guys!"

They all nodded and began to make their way to the garage, with Rose leading the group. It took them a few minutes, especially with robots hitting them at every corner, but the eventually came up on a medium sized building. Rose took a second to look at it, and found a door near the back wall of the garage and ran towards it, the others following behind. Once there she jiggled the door handle only to find that it was locked. She backed up and looked at Heavy, who grinned and gave a nod, then walked up to the door. Once in position, the giant Russian charged the door, and in an instant, the door shattered under the mercenary's weight, allowing the others to go inside.

Rose followed up behind Heavy, her SMGs up and ready to fire, Miss Pauling next and Soldier bringing up the rear, watching to make sure no one came up from behind them. Rose looked around, but couldn't see much with the lights being off, so she scanned for a light switch nearby. Sure enough there was one a few feet from the door they had entered, and Rose walked over to turn it on, still keeping her guard up; she flipped the switch and the garage flooded with lights. Everyone took a second to have their eyes adjust and the first thing Rose saw was a sleek, black with chrome rims, four-door 1931 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser that looked like it had just been refurnished. A giant smile crossed Rose's face as she eyeballed the car and walked towards it, the others following her gaze.

"Guys?" she said, "I think I found our getaway."

* * *

It had been at least two hours since Rose, Miss Pauling, Soldier and Heavy had escaped Gray Mann's island full of robots. Of course getting out was a challenge within itself with an overwhelming number of robots chasing them, but halfway on the bridge that connected the island to the mainland, they gave up the chase, and the four were able to escape. Rose was driving with Miss Pauling sitting silently in the passenger seat, and Heavy and Soldier were in the back, Heavy slowly dozing off and Soldier still vigilantly looking out the back window in case of any pursuers. The group was driving on a back open highway in the late afternoon, with no signs of life nearby.

"So how long do think it'll be till we get back," Rose asked Pauling, breaking the silence.

"Hmm, well as long as we don't have any unwanted company, we should be back at base in about three hours."

"Geez, that's a long time."

"Yeah, we didn't really think this whole infiltration thing through, did we?"

"Hey, live and learn," Rose reassured her. "Besides, I'm fairly certain that if we hadn't have been spotted by that new bot, we would have gotten out of their way easy."

"Eh, I still think we should've used Engineer's teleporter. It would have made it a lot easier to get outta there."

"And miss out on this sweet, kick-ass ride? No way! And like I said before we left, carrying something around like that would have caused too much unwanted attention."

"Yeah…I suppose you're right. And this is a nice ride," Miss Pauling sighed. "I just can't imagine what the Administrator is going to say about all of this."

Suddenly, Rose's stomach went sour and her cheeks became heated. The Administrator; a woman whom she could only assume was someone who only cared about herself, and would do anything to put herself ahead in any situation. Rose looked in the rear view mirror and looked and Heavy and Soldier and frowned; their risking everything and for what? Mercenaries that are getting paid hardly anything to risk their lives for some old hag that doesn't care about anything except power? The thought mad her even more mad than she realized because Miss Pauling had noticed.

"Rose? Are you okay?"

"Huh?" Rose said, snapping out of her thoughts.

"You were spaced out there for a minute, and you look upset. Anything wrong?"

"Oh, uh no, I'm okay. Just thinking about how Gray has all these fancy toys and we hardly have crap."

"Oh well, we have Saxton Hale to thank for our lack of firepower."

"Saxton Hale, huh? Anyway I could have a chat with him? I've never met the guy."

"Oh trust me, you don't want to. But if it's okay the Administrator, then you can give convincing him a shot."

"Cool, I think I can be pretty persuasive when I want to be. What kind of person is he?"

"What you mean?" Miss Pauling asked as she tilted her head.

"Well, is he hard headed, a smooth talker? You know, what kind of persona and demeanor does he have? Knowing that might help me convince him," Rose explained.

"Hmm, well, he is hard headed, he's also a meat head, rowdy, rude, a bully, and thinks himself the strongest man in Australia. But he's fair in a fight."

"Ah so I should try appealing to his ego, and if anything, challenge him."

"You're kidding right? You'd get destroyed!"

"Hmm, well, we'll have to see," Rose said confidently. "I think we might be able to pull something off. If anything, we can always resort to other things."

"Like what?"

"Well, if he supplies us guns, he has to have a place where he keeps them, right?"

"Right..."

"And if we knew where this place was, one of us could cause some sort of distraction, while the other went in, and oh I don't know, acquired said weapons for the rest of us."

"So what you're suggesting is stealing?"

"Oh that's such a hard word, lets just stick with borrowing, but permanently." Miss Pauling just stared at her with an unenthusiastic look. "Heh, I mean..."

"Okay, I'm down," the assistant said suddenly. "You keep that muscle head busy and I can go in and take what we need."

"Awesome! We'll go over details at a later time, but for now, let's just get home and get some rest," Rose said, turning off onto another road, as the car became silent once again.

* * *

It was around 3 A.M. when the group of four pulled into the garage. The base was completely still except for them, and once out of the car, the four went their separate ways to their rooms to get some rest. Rose was as quiet as she could be when she entered the medical bay, peeking her head through the door first to see if Medic was still possibly up, and when she saw that everything was off and quiet, she slowly made her way through the doors and across the room to the doors leading into their room. Rose did the same thing at these doors, only to see Medic fast asleep in his bed, and Archimedes resting on Rose's night stand. She snuck in slowly, as to not wake the two, and once she got close enough to her bed, she began to take her shoes off first. Unfortunately, when she put her hand on her bed to keep her balance, the creaking cause the dove to wake and start fluttering his wings.

"No, no, no! Shhh-shush!" Rose whispered as she quietly rushed over to the bird to calm him.

When she reached Archimedes, however, she heard Medic stirring in his bed, and looked over to see that he was slowly sitting up. The doctor slightly opened his eyes, squinting around the room, and his eyes landing on Rose.

"Uh-ungh, Rose? Wh-what are doing so early in zhe morning?" he said with a stutter, still half asleep.

"Oh, don't worry about it, Medic. Just go back to sleep," she said softly, still calming the dove. He looked at her with a dazed squint, then shrugged and laid back down to fall asleep.

Rose gave a light sigh, and now that Medic and Archimedes were back to resting, she pulled off her shoes, and laid stomach down on her bed, putting her arms under her pillow and lying her head down. Within seconds, Rose was with everyone else and fast asleep.

It was a good seven hours or so before Rose woke up to the sound of wings fluttering. She forced her eyes to open to realize that she hadn't stirred once when she was asleep because she was still lying in the same position but this time, there was a small pool of drool on her pillow. "Eww," she groaned as she wiped her face of her own spit, and began to slowly get up, stretching along the way. After a few seconds of waking up, she looked around to see that Archimedes was flying into the room, and noticed that Medic was once again at his desk.

"Mmmm, good mornin' doc'," she said softly, still trying to wake up as she slowly got out of her bed.

"Oh, guten morgen, Rose," he said, lifting his head from his paperwork and adjusting his glasses, giving her a light smile. "I assume zhe mission yesterday was a success?"

"Heh, if you call getting found out and trying to escape an island full of deadly robots successful, then yeah, real successful."

"Oh come now, I'm sure it vasn't zhat bad."

"Eh, no just annoying. Though, we did get some good information…." Rose trailed off, her eyes widening.

"Erm, Rose? Are you okay?"

"Oh shit! I totally forgot that Gray Mann was going to attack one of the gravel mines today! We gotta let the others know!" Rose said, rushing to get her shoes on. "Medic, can you go run and tell the others while I go find Pauling and let her know we need to leave ASAP!"

Medic nodded and stood up, grabbing his lab coat along the way and putting it on as he left the room. Rose looked over the back wall where Miss Pauling had messed with it the night they were going over information, and pressed the red button. She waited for a second before someone responded on the other end.

"You got Pauling," the assistant said.

"Pauling, remember when Soldier said Gray was going to attack that gravel mine today?"

There was a short silence. "Oh crap..." she said.

"Oh crap is right! I have Medic getting the guys together right now, but we need details on where we are going. Meet us in the garage in ten?"

"You got it! I'll have all the information you'll need!"

"Good! See you there!"

Rose then grabbed her back and emptied it, going over the things she'll need for the mission; her dual butterfly swords and the chain that went with them, the semi-automatic pistol with a hair trigger that Engineer gave her on her first mission, now with a full magazine, as well as her ear piece, her watch, and some food items that she didn't use on her last mission. She threw away the rotten food and put the items back in her pack, and then remembered the two SMGs that she left in the car in the garage. She quickly put her pack on and began to make her way out of room and through the medical bay and towards the garage. On her way down, some of the other mercenaries followed her down and they all gathered down there, a tad bit confused and waiting for instructions. Rose walked over to the car they took from Gray, and saw her guns between the driver and passenger seat. She opened the doors and grabbed the two guns, checked the mags, saw that they had a few bullets missing from the island, and closed the doors and walked towards the group of mercs.

"Okay guys," Rose began, "Let me fill you in until Pauling gets here: we are going to the next place that Gray is going to attack, which is the same one Soldier told us about yesterday. We have to head out as soon as possible, but we should get there with enough set up time before the robots flood the area."

"Uh, Rose, dunno if you forgot or somethin', but are ya sure Soldier was right about that intel?" Scout spoke up.

"Oui. You _were_ found out at his base, after all," Spy agreed. The others began to nod, except for Soldier, who seemed like he was about to burst with fury.

"Look, the only reason that we were found out was a new robot Gray built that was able to tell us apart. The rest of it was not Soldier's fault. Matter of fact, I'm a little ashamed that you guys have such little faith in your fellow teammates," Rose scolded. They looked at their boots and Soldier seemed to lighten up a bit. "We are in this together guys, and even if we're mercenaries, that doesn't mean we cut each other short. That being said, let me continue on what we found out yesterday; first, I mentioned a new robot, and it seems to be based around Engineer..." everyone turned to the Texan, who just put his hands in the air, "So if that bot gets in the area, it's probably going to set a teleporter somewhere to send in more bots and make our jobs harder, so that bot is priority when it enters the field. And if we're busy with a different priority target, then we'll split the team and send a few to go after the Engineer-bot. Any questions?"

The mercs looked at one another, but none seemed to have any, but suddenly Soldier raised his hand, "I have a question."

"Yes, Soldier?" Rose asked.

"I must use the little soldier's room first."

"Um – o-okay, go ahead Soldier," Rose said, unsure of what else to say as the war dog went up the stairs out of the garage. "Well, anyone else have to use the restroom before we leave?" They all looked at one another, then all raised their hands simultaneously. "Ugh, fine go. But ten minutes tops!"

The mercenaries then left the same way Soldier did, and as Rose made her way to the stairs, Miss Pauling ran down them, "Where are they all going?"

"Bathroom."

"All of them? Right now?"

"Apparently."

"Ngh, how long will they be?"

"I gave them ten minutes."

"Well, luckily since it's not that far, you guys should make it before the robots get there around one."

"Good," Rose started climbing the stairs. "I'm thinking I might need more that a pistol and dual butterfly swords for this one, so I'm gonna scrounge for something else to add."

"What about those SMGs you got back at Gray's?" Pauling asked as she followed.

"Well I'm certainly gonna need more than one magazine for each, so I'm going to see Sniper for that. We'll see what else though."

"Hmm, well you could also ask Demo for some explosives, those could come in handy."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking, but I don't want to over-do myself. I think the pistol, dual SMGs and electro-swords should do enough damage," Rose pointed out as she reached the top and waited for the others. "Anyways, anything else we need to know?"

"Not that I can think of. I'll give you the map to study on your way there, and you can think of a game plan to tell the guys once there," the assistant handed her some folded papers. "But be careful. Gray knows that we know what he's up to on this one."

"Always am," Rose smiled back.

The others came down the hallway, looks of determination on their faces, and Rose thought of the trial ahead of them; she wondered how many robots Gray would send this time, how the area was and how they would navigate to defend it, and many other things. One thing she was certain of, however, was that they weren't going to lose now. They had to much to go for, not to mention their was issue of trying to figure out Gray Mann's end game, including what he wanted to do with Australium, and how much there actually was. Regardless, she had to focus on the mission at hand because she needed her head in the game as much as the others did.

* * *

"Jesus that was super hard," Rose said as she sat in the back of Medic's ambulance being healed by the doctor as Spy drove.

"Vereinbart," the German huffed as he held his medi-gun towards Rose.

"It felt like he was throwing everything he had at us," she said as she rubbed the left side of her torso.

The group had arrived at the location about half an hour before the hoard of robots arrived and was able to set up good enough defenses with such short time, but they weren't ready for the multitude of waves that were thrown at them. The Engineer-bots didn't help either, being able to teleport behind their defensive lines every so often. Rose was able to go and take car of one herself, but once she got to the location of the enemy teleporter, a Spy-bot had followed her and with Wheatly currently running action reports and keeping scans on the mercenaries, neither one of them noticed it in all the panic, and Rose ended up with a knife in her abdomen, and even though she was able to quickly put down the Spy-bot with a quick slash to the head, she knew she had been dangerously wounded. She had called up Medic on their earpieces and let him know the situation, and as she had waited for him to get to her location, she destroyed the teleporter by jamming one of her electric-blades in the spinning contraption.

By the time Medic reached her, Rose was sitting propped up by a wall that she was leaning on, holding the area of the stab wound and losing blood fast. The doctor worked quickly, bandaging the wound and using his medi-gun to give her enough health to be able to get back to her feet. Once up, Rose tried getting back in the fight, but Medic refused for her to go fight, and not realizing that their earpieces were on, the rest of the team agreed. But Rose was able to convince them that she should at least be able to see what's going on and Engineer volunteered to have her sit by his dispenser to continue being healed.

The rest of the battle was difficult without have that extra person there, but with Rose being able to at least keep an eye on the field, she was able to lend her options to help her team win.

"I just wish I could've been able to fight more," Rose said with a sigh.

The team was now on their way back to base after a successful mission, everyone in different vehicles, including Medic's ambulance, Engineer's truck, and Sniper's camper. Spy, Medic, Rose and Scout were in the ambulance, Spy driving and Scout in the passanger seat while Rose was being healed by Medic.

"Ah don't blame yourself, Rose," Scout spoke up. "We still won, right? Not to mention only one of us got hurt!"

"That doesn't help Scout! Hngh!" she shouted, but regretted it immediately as her side became engulfed in pain.

"Easy, Rose," Medic warned, "You're still in bad damage, you must take it slowly and easy to heal properly. And Scout she's right."

"Yeah, I know," Rose sighed again.

"Eh, sorry Rose. Didn't mean to make ya feel worse. Just tryin' to look at the bright side, y'know?"

"I understand Scout."

"Next time think before you speak, boy," Spy said coldly.

"Hey, I didn't see you tryin' to boost her confidence, Spy!"

"Hmph," the Frenchman huffed. "Zhat's because I'm a mercenary, not a nurse maid trying to make a child feel better about spilled milk."

"Spy, I don't zhink..."

"BUT..." Spy interrupted the German, "Scout's right. We _did_ win, and luckily only one of us got hurt. We're lucky more of us didn't get too badly injured during zhat battle, and zhanks to your guidance, Rose, we were able to keep it zhat way."

The ambulance was quiet for a moment as Spy refocused on the road ahead, the others keeping quiet.

"Thank you, Spy. I needed to here that," Rose said softly, breaking the silence.

"Of course."

The rest of the ride back to base was a quiet one, and Rose had decided to nap the rest of the way while Medic was still healing her with his medi-gun. She was still sleeping when she woke to the vehicle coming to a full stop, and slowly began to get up from the medical bed that was in the back of the ambulance. She looked around and saw that Medic was already opening up the back doors to get out, and then looked at the cab to see that the others had gotten out too.

"Are you feeling better Rose?" Wheatly asked. "You slept pretty hard there for a while."

"Hmm, yeah, just needed to rest I guess. Glad I did too, 'cause I feel a lot better."

"Well, you can thank Medic for most of that. He wouldn't ease up that medi-gun for anything."

"Huh, nice. I guess I'll go thank him," Rose said slowly getting out of the back of the vehicle.

Rose took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the surroundings and saw that they had parked the ambulance just outside the garage. Rose reached for her left side where the stab wound had been and was relieved to feel no pain, but when she looked down there was a dark read area on her red t-shirt around the hole from the knife.

"Great, this was my favorite shirt too," Rose joked. She was still slightly annoyed because she didn't have to many clothes here, and she hadn't gotten the chance to go out and get any.

"Oh I'm sure if you ask Miss Pauling she can get you another one," Wheatly answered.

"I was only kidding, but I guess you're right. At least I have another red shirt."

"See? And you also have another pair of jeans in your nightstand."

"Wow," Rose paused, "I really have nothing. Even if I went to get more clothes, I don't even have a dresser to put them in. I'm still sleeping on that medical bed Medic gave me when I first got here."

"Huh, well if you think about it, you got that new start you wanted."

"I guess...you're right."

The two fell quiet as they entered the garage and joined the others around the table near the back, waiting for Miss Pauling to join so they can debrief her on the mission. As Rose came closer, Engineer and Medic turned to see her approaching and smiles grew on their faces. Rose looked up and saw them looking at her, and tried to put on a smile, but they knew something deep down was bothering her.

"Heya Rose!" Engineer said, trying to sound cheerful. "Sure glad yer doin' okay. Medic here told me you made a full recovery!"

"Yeah, I did! Thanks again Medic."

"Now vhat kind of doctor vould I be if I didn't at least _try_ and heal someone," the German teased. Rose let out a small giggle.

"Heh, not a very good one I would assume."

"Rose." The three turned to see Spy walking over.

"Oh hey Spy," Rose greeted.

"Bonjour," he said with a tilt of his head. "I am pleased to see zhat you have a made a speedy recovery."

"Well, thanks to Medic," she shrugged to the doctor. "I wouldn't have lasted without him."

"Indeed. I was just wondering when you would like to have our little 'training session?'"

"Oh crap..." Rose said as she put her hand on her forehead. "With all the commotion, I totally forgot, Spy! I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize, mademoiselle," the Frenchman said, raising his hand. "I almost forgot myself until I looked at zhe doorway leading into the training room."

"Huh, well, tell you what, since it's so late, let's do it first thing in the morning after breakfast? That way we can all get a little rest and something to eat?"

"Zhat sounds perfectly fine to me," Spy said with a smile. "I will see you zhen, Rose."

The masked man then walked away and up the stairs, with no one else following or saying anything. Rose looked at Medic and Engineer, who looked like they were a bit worried. "Hey, what's up? What's with the faces?"

"Well," Engineer said, "We've both noticed that the only injuries you've had so far were because of Spy-bots."

"Ja, and ve're a bit vorried if zhis training session is such a good idea," Medic chimed in. Rose looked at them, feeling a bit surprised, confused, and angry.

She didn't realize that the only two bots that had been able to do any damage to her were the two Spy-bots; the one that attacked that one night at the base and the one on the mission. She also felt the same concern the others felt, and was beginning to second guess going through with the session, but then became angry at herself for backing down from a challenge and angry at Medic and Engineer for not being more supportive.

"Look," she began, "I understand your concern, guys. And you're right, the only bots that have harmed me were Spy-bots, but that's just even more reason to go through with this session." The two gave her looks of confusion and concern. "I wasn't aware of my surroundings both times, even though I was distracted otherwise. I feel like if I train with Spy, I'll get a feel for what to expect when I go up against Gray's bots. It's easy to see your enemy and figure out a course of action to take them down before they take you down, but I need to hone my senses. The ones that don't rely on sight. Once I can do that, then I can better defend myself as well as the people I care about. And Spy is the perfect sparring partner for that." She paused for a moment. "Besides, I've been doing to much running and gunning as is, and I wanna learn how to be a bit more stealthy anyways. This session is a perfect way to learn how to start, even if I lose."

Medic and Engineer looked at one another, then back at her, their looks lightening up a bit. "Well, I can't really argue with you on that one, miss," Engineer said, crossing his arms. "You just be careful. Spy ain't no Heavy when it comes to fighting, and he won't play fair all the time."

"That's fine. Battles aren't meant to be fought fairly," Rose said. "Each side does what's necessary to win."

"I couldn't agree more, fräulein," Medic said.

"Well, now I think I'm done being all emotional and stuff for now," Rose shook her head lightly. "If you guys need me, I'll be in bed."

"Heh, good on ya, partner," Engineer chuckled, tipping his hard hat.

Rose began to walk to the stairs and was about to walk up them when Miss Pauling came walking down in front of her. "Oh, Rose! There you are. How'd the mission…?" the assistant trailed off as she looked down at the blood stained tear on her left side. "What happened?!"

"Relax, Pauling. I'm fine, and the mission was a success. But if you want more info, the guys are ready to spill, and I'm ready to take a shower and put on my last nice shirt."

"O-oh, okay, well if you're sure that you're okay then..."

"Yeah, I'm sure. Thank you Pauling," Rose said as she put her hand on the assistant's shoulder. She felt the young woman tense at the touch, but then quickly relaxed. Rose brought her arm back and continued to make her way to her room in silence.

It was close to midnight when everyone got back, so Rose took a nice long shower to clean herself of the crusted sweat and blood, and much to her surprise when she stepped out of the shower, on a stool near the shower cubical in the big white-tiled bathroom with three other showers, was a stack of clean clothes. Rose walked over, wrapped in her towel still and looked around, shrugged and looked at the clothes a little closer; there was her camouflage hat that looked like it had been cleaned of all the dirt and grime from the battle earlier, and underneath it was a nicely folded new red t-shirt that looked like it was just recently bought, and her dark faded blue jeans. Rose tilted her head, unsure of who left these clean clothes for her, until she picked up the jeans. There was a folded piece of white paper under the pants, and Rose picked up and read what it said on the inside, _'_ _Rose, thanks. -P'_

"Aw, that was nice of her," Whealty said suddenly, making Rose jump.

"Dammit Wheatly!" Rose scorned.

"What? Oh, did I startle you?" he began to tease.

"Ugh, it's late, everyone else is asleep, and there was a random pile of clothes sitting next to my stall. Yes, you scared me."

"Oh come now, you can't sit there and tell me that me just popping up was the accumulation of all of that."

"I'm just tired, Wheatly. Really tired. And I would like some rest before the training session tomorrow."

"Oh alright. I'll quit picking on you."

"Thank you."

"But, out of curiosity, how do you think you'll do tomorrow?"

"Honestly?" Rose said, pulling the new shirt over her head, "I'm a little nervous. I don't think I've ever fought anyone that has cloaking tech before."

"Not to my knowledge you haven't."

"Exactly, plus you won't be with me to tell me where he's at."

"Nope. Someone's gotta keep all that tech running smoothly, yeah?"

"Hm, yeah. Anyways, I'm gonna need to rest up if I want to be ready. And so are you."

"Right, right, I can take a hint. Logging off. Good night, Rose."

"Good night, friend."

Rose finished getting dressed then headed out of the bathroom and made her way to the medical bay. After a few minutes of silence, Rose made it to the double doors and walked through, noticing Medic at his desk near the doors leading to their room.

"Working late?" Rose asked, walking towards him.

He gave a light nod and a tired smile. Rose could tell he was exhausted, and he could tell she was too, so Rose just continued on her way to their room, laid her towels down next to her bed, and immediately laid down. As soon as her head hit the pillow, Rose was out like a light.

When Rose woke up the next morning, she noticed that Archimedes wasn't there to great her like he normally was, and as relieving as it was to wake up on her own, she was a little sad that her friend wasn't there. She sat up in her bed, stretching and rubbing her eyes, then slowly made her way out. She looked down to see was still in the same clothes she had on when she got out of the shower last night. _'Hmph, I really need to get more clothes. I don't even know where my pajama pants went to….'_ she thought to herself as she looked around for her shoes and spotted them next to the doors leading out of the room. Rose walked over and sat on the floor to put them on, and as she did she realized that Medic wasn't in the room either.

"Hey Wheatly? You online?" There was a moment of silence before she heard a small whiz coming from the back of her neck.

"Hhmm, yeah, I am now."

"Good morning. Ready for a new day?"

"Heh, about as ready as you are. Speaking of which, I assume you slept well, because your vitals are showing good signs, your mood is significantly boosted and it seems your attention and cognitive process seemed heightened."

"I would hope I slept well! I don't think I moved a muscle while I slept."

"Well, then that should help with your session with Spy today then, yeah?"

"I hope so," Rose paused as she got up on her feet. Her memory flashed back to what Engineer and Medic had told her last night, and a touch of nervousness rose up in her chest. But she quickly put it out as she reminded herself that it was just a training session, and that she was going to learn a lot from it, whether she came out on top or not. "Either way, I'm hungry. And I would prefer to train on a decently full stomach."

"Then let's get to it, missy! Chop chop!" the AI instructed.

Rose then pushed herself out and made her way out into the hallway and down to the recreation room on the second floor. Once she entered the room, her nose was flooded with an aroma of scents, ranging from the smell of bacon cooking on the stove near the back of the room to what smelled like buttermilk pancakes. She looked around to see all the mercenaries near the back of the room, sitting and eating, and noticed that Engineer was hard at work cooking breakfast for everyone. Rose walked towards the group an as soon as Scout looked up to see her coming, the others followed and welcomed her to their breakfast party.

"Heh-hey guys! What's all this?" She asked as she walked up.

"Well it seems that someone went grocery shopping and we have food to make breakfast for everyone all week!" Engineer exclaimed.

"Yeah, and oh-ho man, Rose, you gotta try Engie's pancakes!" Scout said as he shoved a mouthful of the fluffy disks in his mouth. "There shhoooo good!"

"Firstly, don't talk with your mouthful, Scout. Secondly, they _smell_ amazing," Rose said. She walked over to and empty seat next to Medic, who was feeding crumbs to Archimedes on his shoulder. She sat down and nodded to the doctor with a smile, who replied with the same.

"How much would ya like, miss?" Engineer asked as he walked over with a hot pan and a pancake. "Heh, shoot, I got plenty, and I sure as hell ain't lettin' it go to waste!"

"Thanks Engineer, but not too much," she said holding her hand up. "I'll have maybe two pancakes and four strips of bacon."

"Rose must eat to grow big and strong, like Heavy!" the Russian bellowed.

"Yeah, no one wants to be as big as you, tubbo," Scout scoffed, shoving more food in his mouth. Heavy glared at him, and Scout gave a light gulp as he swallowed his food and gave a nervous grin.

"No fighting at the table guys. Plus I just got here," Rose said, making sure tempers were at ease. "Besides, fighting on a full stomach is a bad idea. Can cause cramps and give you issues with your digestive track later on down the road, and believe me, that's never fun."

"Oh yeah, you got that fight with fancy pants, right?" the Bostonian said, waving a piece of bacon around.

"Yup, and I would like to be on my guard for that. Speaking of which, where is Spy?"

"The backstabbers' in 'is room. Likes to eat alone," Sniper spoke up. "N' I think I know why..."

"Oh, well that's okay I guess," Rose said as Engineer put a plate of food in front of her. "I'm too hungry right now to argue with that."

The next hour or so was filled with laughter and stories as the group told Rose some of their adventures working for the Mann brothers, from Soldier having a wizard for a roommate to kicking the ass of a kidnapping Santa Clause. Rose enjoyed it so much, she almost forgot about the time, and when she looked down at her watch she decided it was time to start the session. Rose got up and out of the recreation room and down to the garage, walking with Engineer so they can get the VR room up and running for when they were ready to start. Rose had asked Medic to go and get Spy to let him know that she was ready for the session, and after a few minutes in the room, Spy walked in.

"Hey Spy! You ready for this?" Rose said, walking down from the console to the floor.

"I zhink zhe real question is, are you?" the Frenchman asked, looking fairly confident.

A surge of energy and adrenaline shot through Rose's spine as a grin spread across her face. She was filled with good vibes and food and she felt like she could get through this and win it. She felt confident and was ready to see if she could hold her own against an enemy she couldn't see, ready for someone who was a bit more finesse on the battlefield.

"Well, I feel like I am, and that's good enough for me," Rose replied.

"I couldn't agree more," Spy said.

The room then dimmed to the familiar light blue tint, then the room began to change shape and warp into something different. The lights around them grew a bit darker and the area around them began to grow a bit larger, almost twice the size of the room itself. Suddenly a structure appeared in between Rose and Spy and it took a moment before it formed that she realized that it looked like a turbine, and soon after it formed, another one grew behind her and another behind one came up behind Spy. Then two large formations formed to their sides, forms that turned into two large freight crates, one was red and the other was blue. For Rose, the red crate was on her left and the blue one on her right, and she also noticed that there were two balconies with rooms in the middle of them behind her and Spy. Larger windows formed around the top of the room to let in some more light. Rose felt more pumped than before because she could already come up with multiple situations as to take her opponent down, but before she could fully formulate a plan, the speakers cracked to life with Engineer's voice.

"Alright y'all, this is a fair fight, so both of you get to choose two weapons," he said over the speaker.

"Let Rose pick first," Spy said calmly. Rose looked around the large turbine and gave him a smug glare.

"Oh aren't you the gentleman," she said with a hint of sarcasm.

"But of course."

"Okay Rose, waddya want?" Engineer asked.

"Hmm, I guess I'll take..." she took a second to decide, knowing that Spy was more of a support class so he could defend and attack, and it would probably be best to have two weapons for both scenarios. "I'll take one of my butterfly swords, no enhancements, and that semi-auto pistol yo gave me on that one mission."

"Okay, sounds fair to me," the Texan stated as two small bright lights appeared in front of Rose. She looked down to see one of her swords and the pistol, both having holsters so she could have them on her person. As she strapped on her weapons, Engineer spoke up again. "Okay Spy, yer turn. Waddya want?"

"I'll take my usual, please Engineer," he said. Rose looked over and gave him a confused, but cautious look. He gave her a smug smile and then two bright lights shined on the floor in front of him, which caused Rose to look away for a second. When she looked back, Spy was putting something in his jacket, still giving her the smug grin he had on.

"Alright you two, like I said earlier, this'll be a fair fight, so no cheap shots," Engineer warned. "As usual, you'll have all the time you need, and the first to go down loses. Y'all ready?"

"Yup."

"Oui."

"Alrighty then, Wheatly, will ya do the honors?"

"But of course, mate!" the AI responded cheerfully. "Three...two..." Rose put her hand on her right hip where her pistol was sitting it's holster, and her left on the handle of her blade that was strapped to her left thigh. Spy stood there carefully analyzing her and putting his right hand in his suit like he was getting something ready. "One….GO!"

The two froze, waiting for the other to take the first move so they can plan their next. But for a few moments, neither one of them moved a muscle, and after nothing but silence, Rose made the first move to get things started; within a blink of an eye, she whipped out the pistol and took aim at Spy's chest, but before she could get the first shot off, Spy dodged to the left using the turbine that was in front of them as cover. _'_ _I can't let him out of my sights!'_ Rose thought to her self as she too went to the left and brought her pistol up to aim. But as soon as she did, she was caught off guard when Spy lunged forward at her, him being closer than she realized. He had his butterfly knife poised and ready in his right hand and what appeared to be a revolver with ivory grips in his left behind him.

Without a second though, Rose ducked back to the right just in time for his swing and continued to duck out of the way, trying to keep her eyes on him as she ran backwards. Once she was a safe distance away, she began to pull up her pistol, but again was too slow as Spy brought up his revolver and shot two rounds from the gun. Rose quickly ducked behind the turbine that was behind her to dodge the bullets, and just in time as well when one of the bullets grazed the side of the turbine. Rose leaned out the side of the turbine on the opposite side to pull up her pistol to get a shot in, but as soon as she peered around the corner, the only thing she saw, was the tip of a butterfly knife come straight for her throat. Rose side-stepped back to her original position behind the turbine, and as Spy got closer, she took advantage of the time to pull out her sword, and just in time to block his next swing blade to blade.

Before Spy could react, however, Rose pulled her pistol to her side and fired three shots out of the twelve around his feet, causing him to stagger back and giving Rose enough of an advantage to make a swing at Spy's upper chest with her sword. Unfortunately, Spy was quick enough to back-step just in time to barely miss the blades edge, but it did cut into his tie. Rose didn't let up as she adjusted the blade in her hand and brought it down for another slash, and before she could make contact, Spy shot a large wire at the bottom of the turbine that caused a huge flash of light and sound, which caused Rose to stop mid-slash, and blinded both of them for a moment. Spy recovered fairly quickly and took the opportunity to run, and Rose recovered to find that he was making a break for it. Her adrenalin turned to slight agitation as she bolted for him, and was about to catch up before he could turn the corner of the giant red crate when he turned with his knife in his right hand and blade coming straight for her throat again.

Rose her head just in time to take a knee to the face, which caused her to reel back on pain. She held her nose, and shook her head slightly to get rid of the dizziness and pain, and when it began to clear, she noticed that she had lost sight of Spy. _'Shit,'_ she thought, still holding her nose with her right hand. She brought her right hand away from her face to see some blood on it. Now filled with some anger because of the cheap shot, Rose slowly made her way around the bin, gripping her pistol again in her right and her sword in her left. When she turned the corner, she saw nothing and immediately knew that the game had changed.


	19. Standards

The Tenth Class

Chapter 19: Standards

Rose's nose throbbed and slowly dripped blood as she stayed focused on her surroundings. Spy had kneed her in the face and while she was distracted had disappeared while she tended to her newest injury. She didn't let that deter her, however, as she scanned the area, being more mindful of what she could hear than anything. Rose had made a full circle around the giant read bin and had not seen her adversary anywhere, but she kept aware. She looked above her for a second and got the idea of getting to higher ground, maybe even on one of the bins so that if he tried to get close she would hear him, but then remembered that he had a gun. _'_ _Even with that gun, though, he'd have to reveal himself, and let that watch of his recharge,'_ Rose thought to herself as she kept moving past the turbines and over to the blue bin. _'I have to make it fast getting up there, though, so that way I don't get caught off guard.'_

Rose looked around for a brief moment and noticed the stairs leading up to a balcony right above her past the blue bin and believed that she could run up it and jump on top of the bin, hopefully before Spy could catch her off-guard. Before her mad dash, she went over a few quick plans in case she were to run into him on the way up, held her butterfly sword in reverse grip in her left hand, her pistol holding now nine more shots in her right, the grip slightly bloody from her using her right hand to check her nose. Without a second thought, she broke out into a sprint for the stairs, rounding the corner of the blue bin slightly, half expecting the Frenchman to surprise her. Much to her revilement, he wasn't there and Rose continued on her way to the stairs. She got to the bottom of them, stopped for a brief moment to listen around her – nothing – and she continued up the stairs, taking them in leaps of two. Once she reached the top, she took a quick moment to calm her breathing and heart rate, then took in her surroundings; Rose could see the whole room from up on the balcony.

She looked to her immediate left and noticed that there was a door, well, would be a door there leading deeper into the complex, but it was a static-like, indicating that she couldn't go any further. Rose then looked out in front of her ans surveyed the area, noting the two giant bins with the blue one being directly in front of her, and the three turbines in the middle. Rose gave herself a few more seconds to see if she could hear Spy, or spot a glimmer of his invisible cloak, and when nothing came to she backed all the way to the wall behind her, then ran and leaped onto the blue bin. She caught her balance, paused and then relaxed, knowing that she had reached a relative safe point.

Suddenly, Rose heard a noise of what sounded like Spy's cloaking running out of time and she froze, looking around carefully to try and see if she could spot him now. Now that she was on higher ground she was able to have a better view of the area, but she assumed that Spy was under some cover because she couldn't spot him anywhere. Slowly, she took a step forward, trying to figure out where the sound came from. _'It sounded like it was in front of me, but I don't...'_ Rose froze again, seeing the point of one of his shoes behind a pillar that was holding up the balcony in front of her. As quietly as she could she brought up her pistol and took aim at the shoe; she knew that once she fired, however, that he would either run the other direction out of cover and behind the red bin, or she would be firing at a shadow. Regardless, she took a deep breath, and a second later fired two more shots out of her remaining nine at the foot.

Much to her surprise, her first assumption was correct and Spy ducked in the opposite direction to the red bin and Rose let off one more shot to his knee. Once he was out of sight again, Rose had thought that she missed the last shot, but when she looked back at where she fired the shot, there was what looked like a spot of red, assuming it was blood. _'Hmmm, I can't get my hopes up just yet. I might have just missed him,'_ Rose thought, keeping a level head in her situation. Rose looked around to see if she could distract Spy long enough to reach him, but couldn't find anything of use – until she noticed the lights that were dangling from the ceiling. She gave a slight smile and took aim with her pistol at the light that was just past the red bin on Spy's side, and before she fired she walked to the edge of her blue bin, getting ready to jump down once she got the shot off. She waited a second more and then fired the shot, hitting the light and causing it to explode with glass and shrapnel. Immediately after she fired she jumped off the bin and sprinted for the opposite side of the red bin that spy was behind, and once she turned the corner, she was happy to see that her opponent was dusting off glass and shrapnel and without a moments hesitation Rose brought up her pistol once more and fired off a shot to his left side, hoping to get his arm that he was holding his revolver in.

Spy heard the shot and looked up in time to see a bullet whiz past his left arm. For a second he didn't feel anything, hoping that she had missed, but then a sharp pain shot up his arm. Grabbing it and feeling the blood soak through his red glove holding his knife, he tried holding up his gun to return the favor, but he couldn't lift it without it causing tremendous pain. Before he knew it, Rose was already in front of him bringing her sword in a side swing motion, but he reacted faster and jumped back in time and dashed around the corner of the red bin again.

"Oh no you don't!" Rose yelled after him.

"Heh, you may have gotten a shot off on me, mademoiselle, but I still have zhe upper hand," he yelled back, rounding one of the turbine.

Rose trailed after him, and once she rounded the same turbine, she stopped as she saw Spy tossing his sapper towards the middle turbine and once it made contact, the sapper went off and caused a massive explosion to go off, causing all three turbines to short out in an electrical fit, knocking Rose back on her back. The surge ended up causing the whole room to flicker, as all the lights went out and some sort of defense mechanism to go off making some sort of blast shields to block the windows. The whole room went dark, with only emergency lights to turn on and illuminate the room, which wasn't very bright at all.

Rose gave herself another moment to recuperate, looking around at the dark room. "Shiiit…." she sighed as she got up and dusted herself off.

"God dammit Spy, I said no cheap shots!" she heard Engineer say over the intercom.

"Umm, I hate to be the one to admit this, mate, but he didn't do anything wrong. He just used his know-how on the area to his advantage," Wheatly informed.

"Nghh…but now _we_ can't see anything," Engineer said, still holding the conversation over the intercom.

"Oh well, let me take care of that! For now, we miiight want to get off the comms, though."

"Oh. Heh, right."

The room fell silent once more, with Rose barely being able to see her hand in front of her face. _'Great….'_ she began to think, _'Now I can't see anything. Well, at least it's a challenge. I just have to be quiet and find him before he finds me. Hopefully my eyes will adjust soon.'_ Rose crouched and began to slowly move to some cover so that way she wasn't totally out in the open. She went back in the direction of what she thought was the red bin, and felt around for it's heavy door. Once she felt it, she sat down and propped her back to the front of it, and went over the current situation in her head; she had five more shots in her pistol, but without any way of seeing what she was pointing at, she decided to holster her pistol, but she kept her blade out, ready and waiting to fight back. The room was dark, but slowly her eyes were becoming accustomed to the lack of light, and she began to see the outlines of all the big objects, like the turbines and the other bin, and eventually she was able to see some of the colors.

"Now that I'm adjusted..." she said under her breath as she got up. Her nose was still slightly throbbing from getting a knee to the face, but she took slight comfort in the fact that she nicked Spy's arm. Rose stood up and leaned around the corner to her left, her back still to the bin, and she peered over the side. Out of the darkness, a blade from a butterfly knife came straight for her throat in a side swing motion. Rose backed up just in time for the tip of the knife to just pass, and readied her own knife in her right hand, thrusting it forward to Spy's abdomen. Unfortunately, Spy had just enough time to push her arm to the right of him out of the way, and before Rose could recuperate Spy had positioned himself to perform a low leg sweep with his left leg, knocking Rose's feet out from under her, causing her to fall back. _'Oh for the love of -'_ she thought as her body hit the ground, knocking the wind out of her, and her head hitting the ground hard enough to cause a daze. While she lay there for a second catching her breath, she felt a foot land on her chest with enough weight causing her to stay down.

She looked at the foot and saw Spy attached to it, looking down at her with his revolver. Rose looked around and noticed her sword on the floor to her right, just out of reach and decided to reach for her pistol.

"Tsk tsk tsk," Spy said, shaking his head, disapproving of what she was planning to do.

"Heh, welp...I guess that's that then, huh?" Rose said, laying her hands on the floor in defeat.

"It would seem so, madam," he said softly. "But, zhis is just one time. Come now." Spy lifted his foot, put his gun away in his jacket and reached his right hand down to lift Rose up.

With a smile, Rose grabbed it and was hoisted back on her feet. The room suddenly began to change back into the familiar white panels of the VR room, and Engineer came into view from the control panel.

"Well, that was certainly excitin'," Engineer said, walking away from the panel.

"Yeah, I could've done a bit better though," Rose said, dusting herself off.

"Hmm, yes. You were a little shoddy back zhere, but you did manage to get a shot off on me," Spy chimed.

"Yeah, but I think I was over-expectant in this fight," Rose admitted. "Like I was trying too hard..."

"Don't worry, miss. You will always have another chance," Spy said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Right now I zhink we should get patched up, zhough."

"I couldn't agree more!" the three turned to see Medic approaching them.

"Oh heya, Doc!" Engineer greeted. Medic greeted back with a nod.

"Wait a sec and lemme grab Wheatly," Rose said as she went to grab her AI friend from the control panel, then rejoined the small group. "Y'know Spy, I wouldn't turn down more training sessions with you."

"Hm, well zhen zhat can be arranged," Spy said with a smile.

"Vell before you two start making plans, fräulein, Miss Pauling says she need to have a vord vith you, so I need to heal you before you go," Medic said, holding up his portable medi-gun.

"Huh, okay Medic, go ahead," Rose said. Medic then turned on his device and a bright red light emanated from it and circled around Rose. As the beam began to heal her bloody nose, Rose couldn't help but remember the first time she felt the beam heal her, months back when she broke into the compound.

Sure she had been healed by this beam many times before, but for some reason this time caused a flashback, and she smiled. After a short, quiet moment, Medic shut off his device and gave an approving nod to Rose, signifying that she was done and that she could leave. Rose nodded back and made her way out of the room and into the garage, where the rest of the team was sitting near the television that broadcasted the session. At first they all looked at her in silence, and Rose paused, unsure of what to make of her current situation.

"Um, guys?" she said cautiously. All of a sudden Pyro burst through the group and tackled her with a hug and started incoherently talking. "Whoa! Pyro what's wrong?"

"Mmmmmhmmph! Mmmm hmmmm mm!" he yelled through his mask.

"Uhhh….what?"

"I think what what mutie here is trying to say is if you're all right?" Scout said. The rest of the group nodded.

"Oh, heh well of course! Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, gettin' your ass kicked twice by two different Spy's is kind of a moral killer, if ya know what I mean."

"You guys gotta remember that, hngh Pyro let go, I'm fine," she tried to say as she pried herself away from the pyromaniac. He slowly, but reluctantly, let her go to finish her sentence. "You guys gotta remember that the whole reason I agreed to this training session was so that way I could get an understanding of how Spy fights. Unlike most of you guys, he uses deception and finesse to take down his targets, uh no offense..."

"None taken, ma'am!" Soldier shouted.

"Anyways, I knew I was going to lose, so I didn't get my hopes up, but that doesn't mean I didn't try my best to fight back. It also didn't help that I went in there with the mindset to only survive instead of an actual plan of attack. I just wanted to see a bit of what he could do."

"Eh, that's actually a fair point, lass," Demo chimed in. "I'm sure if that ol' snake hadn't a used his sapper, though, you woulda been able ta kick his arse!"

"Maybe. Doubtful, but maybe," Rose shrugged. "Anyways, I gotta go talk with Pauling for a bit guys! Catch y'all later!"

Rose waved at them as she went up the stairs and they all waved back. Rose kept going down the hallway when she suddenly came to a realization; Medic never told her where to meet Pauling. _'Ehhh, dammit Medic, couldn't have told me where I was going could you?'_ she thought to herself as she face palmed herself. She turned around to go back to the garage when she heard light footsteps behind her.

"Rose!" she heard Miss Pauling call out. Rose turned to see the assistant approaching cooly. "There you are. I realized when I told Medic to get you for me, I didn't tell him where, so I decided to come get you myself."

"Ah, well that's convenient. And here I thought he forgot to tell me, heh," Rose said.

"Oh, ha yeah well, I wanted to talk to about going to see Saxton for some better guns. Y'know, the conversation we had in the car on the way here?"

"Oh yeah, did you talk to the Administrator about the idea?"

"I did, and surprisingly enough she thought it was a good idea! I am to call Hale later on today to set up a meeting, and then you get to meet the infamous Saxton Hale!"

Rose chuckled, "Yeah, I guess so. The only problem would be to try and convince him to get us better weapons, even though the only money we make is from this stupid robot war."

"Well, I'm sure you'll some up with something. In the meantime, I still need to set up a meeting, and that will take some time within itself, so you'll have plenty of time to think of something," Miss Pauling reassured her.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Well, then we better get the ball rolling!"

"Couldn't agree more! I'll come get you once I have all of the information!"

"Sounds good!" Rose gave a thumbs up for agreeing, and the two ladies walked their separate ways. When Rose made it to the foot of the stairs, she paused.

"What's wrong, Rose?" Wheatly chimed up.

"Hmm, do you think you can try and find any other files on Saxton Hale? Even some fan page of some sort, so I can get a proper M.O. and figure out what the hell I'm gonna say to him?" Rose asked. She started making her way up the stairs.

"Uh yeah, I could do that. Anything in particular?" he asked.

"Anything. From his favorite color, to his hobbies. I need to feel like I've known him for a while, and not just meeting him for the first time. Oh and especially his weaknesses."

"Weaknesses?" Whealty repeated in a concerned tone.

"Yes. In case trying to convince him in a civil manner won't work, I might have to go with the other plan Pauling and I thought of in order to get these weapons," she elaborated as she made her way back to the medical bay.

"Oh, right. Anything else?" the AI asked.

"Hmmm," Rose thought for a moment. "Yes. Keep an eye out for any type of contracts. You know, ones looking for mercenary work. We need another way to make some income."

"Are you sure that's such a good idea? Without the she-witch's permission, I mean?" Wheatly cautioned.

"I did say we were going to accept them, but it'd be a good idea to run it by Pauling, and let her mull it over," Rose stated.

"Hm, fair enough, I suppose. Alrighty, I'll get to work! What are you gonna do, if I may pry?"

"Me? I'm gonna rest. I have no idea when this meeting is going to happen, and if we can get it in today, I'm gonna need a nap before I even think about going. Especially after that training session with Spy."

"Well, sounds good enough to me. I'll let you know when I've compiled a file for you!"

"Thank you, Wheatly," she thanked, walking into her and Medic's room. She looked over to her bed and was shocked to see that it was no longer a medical gurney, but an actual bed.

It was a simple twin sized bed, with what looked like a dark oak wood frame with a dark blue silken comforter and two matching pillows. Rose paused for a moment, completely taken aback by such a wonderful present. She gave a relaxing sigh as she took off her shoes and climbed on top; the mattress had a soft memory foam top, but underneath was just a regular spring mattress and the moment Rose laid her head on the pillows she was out like a light.

* * *

"Roose?"

Rose twisted in her bed slightly at the sound of her name. "Rose? Wake up..." the voice said again. Rose slowly began to wake up, not realizing how hard she must have slept. She was sleeping on her stomach and turned her head to see Miss Pauling leaning over slightly with a gentle expression lingering on her face. "Heey, I thought you weren't going to get up for a second there you were sleeping so hard, heh."

"Mmmmhmm, yeah, I wasn't expecting to sleep that hard. I guess that session I had with Spy took a lot more outta me than I expected," Rose said as she sat up with a stretch.

"Well I had come in earlier to talk to you about the meeting, but you looked so tired that I just let you sleep," the assistant explained.

"How long was I asleep for?" Rose asked.

"Oh, just a few hours. It's just getting to be late evening, and all the guys are just now eating dinner," Miss Pauling explained as she sat down on the foot of Rose's bed. "But, first, how do you like it?"

"Hm? Oh, the bed? It's amazing!" Rose said with a giant, thankful grin. "Thank you so much Pauling!"

"Well, don't give me all the credit, I had some help in picking it out."

"Really? Who helped?"

"Eh, I think I'll just let you figure that one out. Anyways, let me fill you in on what happened..."

"Oh right, the phone call. How did that go?"

"Ha, well, it went about as well as expected when you talk to someone who is constantly full of themselves," Miss Pauling shrugged. "But long, long story short, we got the meeting!"

"That's awesome, Miss Pauling! Now hopefully he might see to reason and listen to us," Rose said.

"Yeah, as much as I would like for that to actually happen, I have my doubts."

"Eh, me too, but we got to try at least. And it's not like we don't have a back-up plan just in case he doesn't listen."

"Yeah, and somehow that does give me much confidence either. I mean, you're talking about going up against one of the toughest Aussies out there! If you can't even handle Spy, how do you plan on handling him?"

"Ugh, I told Scout this earlier: firstly, that was only a training session, and I wasn't planning on actually taking him down anyways. Secondly, Spy and Hale are _clearly_ two different types of people, one who has manners and style, and one who doesn't. I could go on but I'd rather keep it simple in saying, even if I don't talk him down, I can at least get him hot-headed enough to try and pick a fight. Besides, I've got a secret weapon."

"Oh really? And what might that be?" Miss Pauling said in a sarcastic tone.

"Hmph, that's just something you'll have to figure out," Rose said snidely.

"Ooh, touchè," Pauling said with a wiggle of her index finger.

"I try. Anyways, when's this meeting?"

"Oh, um surprisingly he said it was alright to have it tomorrow afternoon, 3:00 P.M."

"Well then, it's settled," Rose said with a confident nod, "We will go then, and _hopefully_ go and talk to him."

"Agreed!" Miss Pauling chimed as she got off the bed. "In any case, I'll let you finish getting up and get some food. I'm sure some of the guys would love to talk about the training session earlier."

"Yeah, maybe," Rose grunted as she got up from her bed as well, stretching. As Miss Pauling opened the doors to leave, Archimedes flew through the doors and landed on Rose's shoulder. "Well hello my feathered friend!" Archimedes chirped cheerfully as he fluttered slightly, still perched on her shoulder.

"Wow, I didn't realize Archimedes liked you that much," Miss Pauling said, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, me neither. But, if he's here then that means Medic isn't too far behind." As soon as Rose finished her sentence, as if by cue Medic walked through the doors and looked as if he was looking for something.

"Oh, uh Rose! Zhere you are. Did you sleep well?" he asked, adjusting his glasses.

"Heh, I sure did, thanks to this new bed," she replied, pointing to her bed next to her.

"Oh yes. Vell, I'm sure Miss Pauling did a good job picking one out. Anyways, how are you feeling?" he asked.

"Well, better now that I had a nap, but I'm just hungry, mostly."

"The guys ordered pizza, by the way," Miss Pauling stated. "Just thought you should know. Anyways, I'm gonna leave now. Important assistant stuff, and...stuff." And with that, Miss Pauling quickly slipped through the doors without either Rose or Medic objecting.

"Huh. Well that was a bit weird," Rose said as she tilted her head.

"Uh, agreed. But zhat aside, vould you care to join me for some pizza zhen, Rose?" Medic asked.

"Heh, I thought you'd never ask," Rose said, her cheeks feeling a little warm. "Um just let me not look like I've slept for a week and I'll just meet you out in the hallway, 'kay?"

"Of course!" Medic said with a smile. He then turned and walked out of the room to the hallway to wait for her.

"Hmmm," Rose hummed lightly.

"Well, well, well. What do we have hear? Heart rate elevating and a slight spike in body temperature?" Whealty spoke up with a teasing tone to his voice. "I wonder what that could possibly mean?"

"It means don't say a freakin' word, or I'll stick you in a brick cellular phone for a week," Rose said defensively.

"Oi, easy there tiger! I was only poking fun, no need to get so defensive!" Wheatly popped up holding his hands up in surrender. "See? I give!"

"Hmph...sorry. Didn't mean to get that defensive," she apologized.

"Eh, it's alright, Rose. I know you didn't mean anything by it."

"Or did I?" she said, giving a slightly crazed smile to her AI counterpart.

"I...um..."

"HAHAHA! No no no, I would never actually do that to you! Hahahaha! I was only teasing!" Rose roared with laughter, "Ah, consider that payback."

"Oooh hoho, good one," Wheatly wiggled his holographic index finger at her. "You sure are on a roll this evening."

"Yeah, I guess I am," Rose said as she grabbed her brush from her nightstand and fixed her hair in a proper pony tail. She then put her shoes on, and her camouflage hat that was also sitting on her nightstand. She mentally went down a check list to make sure she didn't leave anything out, and when she knew she was ready, she started her way out of the room. "So anything on Hale?"

"Hmm, well, where do I begin? Oh I know, I'll start by saying you should definitely not go on a one-on-one match with him," Wheatly warned.

"Wait, why?" Rose paused in the middle of the medical bay.

"Well, aside from being the fourth richest man in the world, he's also done some pretty extraordinary things. Apparently he sleeps with an actual bear that he tamed in the Brazilian jungles, and as an attempt for employee moral building he has Gorilla Wrestling Fridays," Wheatly explained.

"Um, seriously?" Rose asked, a bit skeptical.

"Um, yes. He also apparently taught an entire girl scout troupe how to set grizzly bears on fire..."

"Uh, oooookay then," Rose slowly made her way to the doors that lead to the hallway where Medic was patiently waiting. "Hmm, maybe picking a fight with him _isn't_ such a great idea after all."

"Exactly. And what was that secret weapon you were telling Miss Pauling about anyways? Judging from what I'm reading, I don't think he will budge on his policies to matter what you say."

"That's for me to know, and for everyone else o find out, good friend," she said confidently. "I'm still going along with the plan, though."

"Are you serious?! Did you not hear what I just told you?" Wheatly said in shock. "I don't think you..."

"It'll be fine, Wheatly," she calmly stated. "Just let me handle it. He may be a muscle-bound meat head, but I'm sure he can still be a gentleman."

"Well, I guess, but….wait, are you -"

"Okay Medic! Ready?" Rose interrupted as she pushed through the doors. Medic turned and smiled with a nod. "Well let's go then. I'm starving!"

"Hmph, fine. I guess I'll just keep working on a file for you," Wheatly whispered as he disappeared.

"Thank you," she whispered back. Medic paused shortly and gave her a curious look, but Rose just shrugged and continued walking. After a second or two, Medic quickly caught back up and the two made it down to the recreation room to join the others in pizza and laughter.

"Are you absolutely sure you still want to go with the plan?" Miss Pauling asked.

"Firstly, it's a back-up plan, remember? Secondly, yes. I'll get him distracted and out of the office either later today or tomorrow, and you can sneak in and get what we need," Rose explained.

The two women were sitting in a plain room that had a few seats up against the walls. The wallpaper was a silverish-gray, and there was a doorway to their right that said _'Elite Customers'_ above it. To their left was a doorway to a run-down room that looked like it hadn't been clean in months, if not years, and smelled of anything that would make someone vomit. Thanks to working of cadavers with Medic, the smell didn't really bother Rose, but she could tell Miss Pauling was trying incredibly hard to not let the smell effect her. They could hear Hale talking to what Rose could tell was his assistant.

"Ngh, I don't know how I feel about this, Rose. He doesn't really listen to me, and he doesn't really see eye-to-eye with the Administrator either," Miss Pauling admitted.

"Well, that make two of us, but I'm sure we can think of something to convince him," Rose tried to reassure her, "We just have to stick together and not back down."

"Hm, I hope you're right."

Just then a tall and lean gentleman in a gray button-up suit with a blue tie and brunette hair walked out in front of them. "Mr. Hale will see you now," he said bluntly. The to women looked at one another, then Rose got up first and Pauling followed as the two followed the man into the next room.

As the three made it through the room, Rose took a moment to quietly look around the office. It was a long room, with mounts of animals that were already or going to be extinct lining the walls as they walked, as well as numerous pictures that, from what Rose could tell, were all pictures of Hale betting up some sort of animal or person. The three continued to walk down until they reached two chairs sitting right in front of a giant desk that had a metal top. There was a chair behind the desk that had it's back turned to them but it looked like it was made out some sort of animal fur. The man stood next to the chairs and motioned the two women to sit down, and they did so accordingly.

Then the gentleman walked through a door to their left, was gone for a few seconds, then returned with a leg of some animal and a nest with three eggs in it. "Your post-lunch giraffe leg and kakapo eggs, sir."

Suddenly, the chair whirled around to show a man, almost the size of Heavy but with more muscle, Rose compared. Rose just stared at the giant Australian that was seated in the fur covered chair; he had crocodile-tooth lined hat and no shirt, showing off his rippling muscles and a patch of chest hair that looked like it was shaped like Australia and his only facial feature was a comb mustache. "Ah, thank you, Bidwell," Hale said in a boisterous deep voice.

"Also, you three o' clock's are here," Bidwell stated as he stood next to his employer.

"Who is it? This better not be a waste of my time," Hale complained.

"Um," Miss Pauling tried to speak up.

"Oh, it is."

"Hi..."

"What can I do for you, Helen's Bidwell, and...er, who might you be?" the Australian asked turning to Rose. Rose suddenly perked up as she realized she was being spoken to, but before she could respond, Pauling had spoken up again.

"This is Rose. Y'know, the newest merc to our team? I told you about her yesterday during our phone call? And my name is Miss Pauling, remember? I – nevermind," Pauling tried explaining.

"Rose and Miss Pauling. Right. Got it," Hale interrupted. "Well, solved! Bidwell! _My_ Bidwell. See Miss Paddling and her friend out."

"Hold up," Rose spoke, dodging around Bidwell as he came up to escort them out and walking up Hale's desk. "We have a bit of a situation here, and we _need_ to talk about this."

"She's right, Mr. Hale," Pauling said as she also moved around the assistant and joined Rose at his desk. "We have nothing but junk right now in terms of weapons and we need something to help these mercenaries continue our fight. I can't really keep them interested for very much longer if I already have sixteen of everything I'm already offering them."

"We can't very well go up against an army of robots with the crap you give us, Mr. Hale," Rose stated bluntly.

Hale stood up out of his seat. "Mrs. Pilsing, and what's-her-name, you're my client. It's important that you know I am _listening_ to you and that I _hear_ what you are saying." He leaned over his desk towards the two, "Also important: me telling you both to your damn face that you are liars." Rose took that as a bit as a shock, but kept calm, and she looked at Pauling to see that she was doing the same. "Those guns are _**incredibly rare**_ heirlooms!"

"Mr. Hale, we were both sitting in chairs made of Force-a-Natures!" Miss Pauling turned to show the CEO.

"Ah, right. No, those _**are**_ garbage. Factory error. Accidentally made nine million of the things," he explained. " _And_ I've been over-charging you for them for years. But here's the good news: as of _right now,_ I am going to stop. Problem solved! Bidwell, show these two -"

"No!" Rose interrupted. "We have a war we are fighting right now, Mr. Hale….Saxton. And we can't win that war if we don't have the right equipment to fight back with!"

"Not to mention all of the _other_ contracts the Administrator needs us to take care of. If I don't get the right people in the right shallow graves, we'll end up in the next one. And Saxton?" Pauling leaned in closer, looking at him over her glasses, "You'll be _**right there with me.**_ "

Saxton leaned in uncomfortably close to Rose and Miss Pauling, but the two didn't flinch a muscle. Suddenly, he stood up straight again and smiled. "I like your moxie, ladies! You both remind me of _**me**_ , if I was my own assistant!"

"But I'm not..." Rose began, but Pauling elbowed her in the ribs and she winced in pain as she was elbowed in the ones that were stabbed a few days ago.

"Heh heh. So...you'll give us better guns?" Miss Pauling asked, a bit sheepishly.

"HAHAHAHA, no."

"But – but why?"

"I'll show you..."

Saxton walked over to a stuffed white Yeti, and Rose and Pauling followed and stood next to him as he moved a panel down to reveal what looked like a punching pad. **RESTRICTED AREA. PLEASE AUTHENTICATE.** A metallic Australian voice sounded. Without warning, Hale punched the pad as hard as he could with his left fist, startling both Rose and Pauling that Rose almost fell backwards and Pauling's glasses almost flew off her face. **2,751 POUNDS PER SQUARE INCH. G'DAY MR. HALE.** Then a door to the left of the pad lifted upwards revealing a secret room, and Hale began to march forwards.

"Follow me," he said to the two. The women looked at one another for a quick moment and then both proceeded to follow the Australian. "This...is the Mann Co. Elite Suite. Premium weapons for the _top_ mercenaries in the world."

Rose could hardly believe what she was seeing. The room they were in was three times bigger than Hale's own office, with crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and rows of pillars that had what looked like cases of weapons on them, and behind the pillars were arched windows with mannequins holding and showcasing much higher grade weapons than what Rose had seen back at base.

"Wheatly? Getting all this?" Rose whispered.

"Oh-ho yeah," he responded to her.

"Secret Agents. Commandos. Assassins. The elite suite caters to the _discerning_ killer in immediate need of high-end ordinance at any price," Saxton went on, unaware of what Rose was doing. "And by any price, I mean 'an obscene prices.' They're all high-functioning psychotics, not a one of them seems to know or care what money is."

The three past a table that had a few glasses of champagne sitting on top. "' _Enjoy the complimentary champagne by the way,'"_ Hale said. Rose and Pauling paused, and just as Pauling began to lift a glass to her lips, Hale turned around, "That's what I'd say if you were an actual customer, because you'd be a trillionaire. You're not, though, so put it back. It's $5,000 a glass." Pauling quickly and carefully put the glass of liquid down, and Rose had hold back a laugh as she put it back.

Hale then walked over to the nearest pillar that had a weapons case on it and opened it up, then gestured the two women to come over. "Here's one of our newest cases. Ain't she a beaut?"

"Yes," Pauling said, and Rose's jaw dropped. "It's beautiful."

"Wheatly…" Rose whispered again.

"Already on it."

"Damn right. _Rare,_ too. We broke the mold after we made that one," Hale went on to explain as he walked away from the case holding the rare weapon. "Accidentally. Factory explosion. Tragic. Still, it's a good idea. We're gonna do more of it in the future."

"Wait, what?" Rose said, coming back to reality from drooling over the weapon in the case.

"But this is _exactly_ what I need!" Miss Pauling said.

"Miss Puffing, I'll be square with you," Hale started. "You work with exceptionally subnormal men. Defectives. Drunks. Sex criminals. War criminals. I'm fairly certain four of them can't even read..." Rose began to get agitated that he was listing off her teams' downfalls as compared to their accomplishments. _'Who the hell does this jerk bag think he is?!'_ she thought to herself as her fists began to clench slightly. _'Maybe I should go off of his rap sheet and list the bullshit crimes he's done...'_ Hale then turned back around to the two, who were still standing at the weapon case.

"Men like that don't get high-end jobs. They get _your_ jobs," he went on. "And something tells me you didn't come here with a blank check."

"Okay, well even if we can't afford these guns in particular, there has to be something that you can give us," Rose spoke up. "I mean we are at least clients, like you said."

"Alright, Daisy, you twisted my arm," Hale turned to Rose.

"Um, my name is -"

"Metaphorically, I mean," he interrupted. "I mean, look at those tiny hands. I'd like to see you budge these tree trunks!"

 _'_ _How 'bout I cut them down then,'_ Rose thought, glaring at the CEO. Hale either ignored her more or he didn't care because he continued to talk on.

"Anyway, I wasn't going to show you two this, but..." Hale opened another secret door. "I've got just the thing!"

"Oh, thank yo – oh," Pauling began to thank, but was cut short. Rose followed the two through the door, and before she said anything, she face-palmed herself so hard, she accidentally hurt herself.

"I give you..." Hale walked over and held up what looked like two guns that seemed like their barrels were welded together, making it impossible to shot the weapon at all. "The Twin Forces of Nature!"

 _'_ _OH FOR THE LOVE OF F-'_ Rose screamed in her head.

"It's two guns in one! And a club! And hell! Raw materials you can melt down into a better gun!" Hale explained. "And...you could walk out of here with it, _today_ , for forty dollars!"

"Right…" Pauling said. Rose looked over and saw assistant hard at work coming up with an idea. "Welp, we'll take it!"

"Wait, what?!" Rose gasped at Miss Pauling. "You can't be serious?!"

"Well, he made a good point. It's basically a packaged deal," she said with a shrug.

"See? I knew you couldn't resist such a deal," Hale said with a satisfactory grin.

Miss Pauling pulled out her wallet and pulled out two twenties and handed it to the Australian, who in turn, handed her the abomination of a weapon. "Well, I guess that handles that. Rose? C'mon, let's go show the guys their new...gun..." she said, heading out the door.

"But..." Rose began to protest, but Miss Pauling was walking too fast to allow her to talk. "Um, okay?"

"Pleasure doin' buisness with you, Miss Peeting and Lavender!" Hale shouted out after them.

After a quiet elevator ride, Rose and Miss Pauling were walking through the main foyer lobby towards the front doors. As they walked, Rose spoke up, "Sooo, we're gonna take his stuff, right?"

"Yup."

"Hm. Good."

 **Hey guys, sorry for the delay in chaps. Works kicking my butt right now, and I don't have much energy, but I'll try to stay on the two week schedule! Hope you enjoys, and reviews are always welcomed!**


	20. Halloween Time!

The Tenth Class

Chapter 20: Halloween Time!

"RRRRGGH!" Pauling grunted as she kicked the door. **37 POUNDS PER SQUARE INCH. YOU ARE NOT SAXTON HALE. POLICE HAVE BEEN…** "Hff, Hff, HHHNNNG!" Pauling huffed as she rammed a personal battering ram into the pressure pad. **2,633 POUNDS PER SQUARE INCH.**

Suddenly the door hidden door opened to reveal the room that the two women had been in earlier. As Miss Pauling put the battering ram down next to her, Rose picked up the wheel-barrow they had brought and rolled it into the room.

"Huh, I guess you were right," Rose said to Pauling. "He must had it set to 2,500 pounds per square inch as a minimum requirement. I owe you forty bucks."

"Heh, yeah. 'Cause we both know I totally wasted that forty dollars earlier today," the assistant said as they strolled into the elite room.

The two were dressed up in black sweaters and black combat cargo pants accompanied with slate gray combat boots, and black bandanas covering their faces. Rose's hair was still in her normal pony tail, and instead of her normal camo cap, she wore a normal black baseball cap on her head. Pauling simply had her hair done up in a bun, but some of it was coming loose due to her recent exercise.

"And I still don't see why you didn't let Wheatly just bring the measurements down anyways," Rose stated as she set the wheel-barrow down. "Then you wouldn't have had to strain yourself with that kick."

"Let's just say I had some stress to relieve," Pauling stated, putting the battering ram in the wheel-barrow.

"No argument here."

Suddenly, the cell phone on Miss Pauling's hip began to ring. "Oh what now..." she brought the phone up to her left ear and held it in place with her shoulder. "Pauling h-"

"I was thinking," it was Saxton. Rose paused and looked at Pauling with a worried look. The assistant just waved her to continue with there plan as Hale continued going on. "The Twin Forces of Nature? I'll sell you another for $35. That's highway robbery. You've just made me an accessory to a crime against myself!"

Rose roller her eyes as she helped Miss Pauling fill the wheel-barrow full of guns as he went on, Pauling staying completely silent. "I'm going to take it from your silence that you are cautiously interested. So let me sweeten the pot. I and holding, right now, a solvent that will separate the Twin Forces of Nature into two guns. That's right! I just doubled the deal!"

Rose noticed Pauling setting down a note on a pedestal as she just took the last gun from. When she was done, Rose walked over to the note and read it: ' _I.O.U. a hundred million dollars. Thanks. -P.'_ Rose shook her head, picked up the note as she walked over to Pauling, who was still on the phone with Saxton.

"Your continued silence tells me you're shrewd. Maybe too shrewd. Now the price is back to forty dollars! Take it or leave it." she could hear Saxton still hopelessly negotiating with Miss Pauling. Rose walked up and stopped her before they left and held the note up, making the _'Seriously?'_ face at her since she didn't want to give away what they were doing.

"Hgh, yeah, fine," the assistant said as shrugged at the note. Rose just stood there waiting for the conversation between the two to be done so she could have a word in before they left, as she noticed that Pauling left I.O.U.'s everywhere a gun or case used to be.

"Good. Locked in. Now for the lesson-learning part." Rose rolled her eyes again, and crossed her arms over her chest, while Miss Pauling was leaning over the wheel-barrow full of weapons, mundanely listening to the Australian ramble. "You just got robbed, Pauling. This is a horrible deal, these things are terrible. That's why you never get the good guns. Next time show initiative!" and he hung up.

"It's about damn time!" Rose huffed as she rubbed the sides of her temples. "At least he got your name right, heh."

"Hm. And what about the notes? Don't like 'em?" Pauling said shrewdly to Rose.

"Huh? Oh no, like what the hell? If we're stealing, what's the point of leaving I.O.U.'s? Aren't we supposed to be sneaky sneaky?" Rose gestured a crouching position, pretending to sneak.

"Hng, yes, but it's also called being respectful," Pauling lifter the wheel-barrow.

"Ha! Respectful? He called you spineless, messed up your name, and _mine_ , earlier today, and just 'scammed' you out of another forty dollars," Rose listed. "Like he gives a crap about respect."

"Well, in a manner of speaking, yes. We did take initiative, after all. And he respects that."

"Well, I – I can't argue with that, Pauling," Rose admitted. "And you don't think he's gonna come after us? For stealing all of his guns?"

"Nah, I only left an initial. You were right about one thing," the assistant said. "He's not all to bright. More brawn than brain mostly."

"Heh, right again, Pauling."

"I try."

* * *

"Whoa-ho-hoa! What do we have here?!" Scout shouted as he was the first to walk in the recreation room. Miss Pauling was sitting in a chair in front of a table, with Rose standing next to her, that had an assortment of new guns that made all of their current equipment look like complete garbage.

"Well, Miss Pauling and I thought it was time for an upgrade. For everyone," Rose stated as she waved her arm across all of the weapons laying out on the table.

"Fellas, looks like Smissmas came early this year, yee-haw!" Engineer hollered. The rest of the mercs came into the room and went over their respective weapons, almost drooling.

"And there's more where that came from, guys," the assistant spoke up. "As we get some more of these contracts knocked out, I'll give you a new weapon. That is, as long as you actually complete them, and the way you were supposed to."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever ya say, lass," Demo shrugged Pauling off as he was eye-balling a grenade launcher; Rose never noticed that his grenade launcher was a M79 Grenade Launcher that was modified to have a revolving chamber that showed similarity to an M32 Multiple Grenade Launcher and his launcher fired six shots before having to be reloaded. The one Demoman picked up off of the table had a desert camouflage tint to it, and was modified to have a faster fire rate.

"Heh, looks like Demo is satisfied," Rose chuckled. "Oh, what is Smissmas, by the way?" The men all stopped and looked at her shocked, as if they were all told they were fired or something.

"Oh, you don't know?" Pauling spoke up. "Well, to put it simply, it's like Christmas, but and Australian Christmas."

"Um, what now?" Rose shook her head, trying to understand. "What's the difference?"

"For starters, Old Nick kidnaps children who are naughty to work in his workshop, or basically any children," she explains.

"Wait, seriously?" Rose backs up a bit, looks of worry and anger come over her face.

"Don't worry though, it's only a story to get kids to behave around the holidays. You know how it goes."

"Er, I guess."

"Hey, speakin' of holidays, whaddya doin' for Halloween, Miss Pauling?" Scout said as he leaned on the edge of the table next to the assistant. For a second, Pauling just gave Scout a blank look as she continued to sit, then she realized something.

"Actually, I'm not sure," Pauling said. "I've been so busy every year that I didn't realize that I don't think the Administrator has me doing anything that night."

"Well, you can always just hang around with us, miss," Engineer came over, admiring a new wrench he found.

"Wait, is it seriously almost Halloween?" Rose said almost panicky.

"Um yeah, why?" Scout turned and asked. Rose froze and her eyes grew wide.

"WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME! HALLOWEEN IS MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY EVER!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, causing Scout to fall backwards, Pauling to almost fall out of her chair, Engineer to drop his new wrench, and everyone to look at her. "Um...hmmhm...I mean, I really, really, _really_ , love Halloween!"

"Heh, couldn't tell," Sniper sneered, peering down the scope of a sniper rifle.

"Well you would too if you loved spooky and scary things as much as I do!" Rose got a bit defensive.

"It's true too," Wheatly finally spoke up, popping up in his hologram. "Every year she finds a new haunted place to go to and spends the whole night there. She loves the paranormal like it was going out of fashion, ha!"

"Hm, when did ever come into style?" Spy teased.

"Hush you!" Rose shook her finger. "This is THE BEST holiday ever. I mean what's not to like about it?! Free candy, dressing up as some scary mythical creature or being, having a legit excuse to scare people right out of their skin! I mean, c''mon!"

"Okay, okay, we get it Rose!" Miss Pauling spoke up. "Well, I guess I could spend that night with you guys. I've actually got a game that I've been wanting to try, but I, uh...yeah. Don't really...know people?"

"It's okay, Pauling!" Rose said, laying her arm over the assistant's shoulders as she got up. "We'll make a night out of it!"

"Yeah… _'_ _we'_ ," Scout pouted.

"Yeah! Let's do a party!" Pauling said.

"Agreed! Wait, when _is_ Halloween?" Rose asked.

"Oh, um, I think it's in about three weeks," Engineer answered.

"Okay, sweet! Let's hope that jerk Gray Mann doesn't launch any mass attacks anywhere. _Especially_ on Halloween."

"Oi, that would be really bad for him," Wheatly said, pretending to sit on Rose's right shoulder.

"Why do ya say that?" Engineer asked.

"If I'm this excited about a holiday, what do you think would happen if some jaggoff decided to be cute and not let me have my holiday?" Rose said threateningly. Engineer adjusted his hard hat, and the others looked like they were looking at something else.

"Well, it certainly wouldn't be a pretty site, lads," Wheatly spoke up again.

"Exactly." The room suddenly became quiet and a chill came through the air. "But don't worry about that!" Rose shouted again, startling everyone. Again. "'Cause that's not going to happen! And this Halloween is going to be awesome!"

"In the mean time, however, you guys go ahead and enjoy your new toys!" Miss Pauling said. "I've got some things to take care of. Don't get into too much trouble!"

Pauling left the room and let everyone to gawk over their new weapons. Rose was still a bit excited about the thought of having a Halloween party to go to, so instead of gawking with them she decided to find a piece of paper and pen and went to sit down at the table she always sat at to do some planning.

"Not going to join in on the festivities, Rose?" Wheatly asked.

"Mmm, I can look later," she replied as she sat down. "I really want to get a head start on this planning and see what the guys think. Not to mention I haven't even the slightest clue what I'm going to dress up as."

"You could always be a ghost. That's what you were last year, remember?"

"And the year before that, and the year before that, and so on. I need something fresh, something new!" Rose began to scribble on the sheet of paper.

"Hmm, well you could always be a witch," the AI proposed.

Rose waved the idea away like it was an annoying fly. "Nah, to overplayed. Just like vampires."

"What about a zombie?"

"Hmm, that could work. But I'm not that good with cosmetics to make it look realistic."

"You could always be a robot, heh." Rose looked up from her paper to see Engineer standing there, a new pump action-style sawed-off shotgun with a green camouflage slung over his shoulder.

"Hm, thanks, but no thanks. Last time I dressed up as a robot, it didn't really end well, heh."

"Aw c'mon now," Engineer sat in a chair next to her. "Y'all can't have one bad experience ruin the fun."

"Can and will," Rose retorted. "But we did get a sweet car out of it, now that I think about it. Anyways, I'm not really feelin' the whole robot outfit anyways."

"Can't say I didn't try," Engineer put his boots up on the table and leaned back in his chair. Rose just gave a soft smile and went back to her brain storming.

"Hmmm, maybe I can be...oh! I'll be an undertaker!" Rose said with a bit of excitement.

"An undertaker?" Wheatly and Engineer questioned together.

"Yeah. You know, the guys from the old west that would make coffins for all the dead people in their towns and stuff? I even have a great design in mind for it now!" she began to scribble some more on her paper.

"Huh, I guess that could be an interestin' costume," the Texan said.

"Yeah, and it's gonna look sweeeeet!"

"You always were the creative one, Rose," Wheatly complimented.

"Aw thank you, Wheatly! Are you feeling okay?" Rose teased.

"Yes. And don't used to that, missy," he retorted.

Rose gave a low chuckle as she continued to write down ideas for the party and her costume. The rest of the mercs were go over their guns and gear and once Rose was finished with her current ideas she put her pen and paper to the side and looked at all the guns still sitting on the table; there were some different skinned SMGs and some rocket launchers, along with different variations of shotguns. Rose smiled. These men needed some new weapons, hell, they deserved them.

"So, who did you guys originally work for before this robot war happened?" Rose spoke up towards Engineer, who was still leaning in his chair.

"Hmm? Oh, we did work for the two Mann brothers, Blutarch and Redmond, but their apparently long lost kin Gray Mann came in and killed them in cold blood," Engineer explained.

"Huh, okay. Wait, weren't those the two brothers that argued over some land or something? I remember reading something about that back at – uh, back awhile ago," Rose adjusted herself.

Engineer gave her a tilted glance before continuing. "Yeah, those two idjets couldn't share a last name, let alone some land their old man gave 'em before he kicked the bucket."

"Who was their father?"

"And man named Zepheniah Mann. He was the one who originally founded and owned Mann Co. before he gave it to an old friend of his," the Texan explained.

"Ah yes, here it is," Wheatly intervened. "Found some files that say that when Zepheniah Mann died, in his last will and testament. As for his sons, he left his vast lands for them to share and the two had been feuding with one another since birth."

"And that's where the mercenaries come into play?" Rose asked.

"Indeed. As soon as they could, the two brothers hired mercenaries to fight one another to try and gain control of the land. Unfortunately, since both teams of mercenaries were evenly matched, the two teams went into a prolonged stalemate."

"Figures," Rose scoffed as Engineer and her continued to listen.

'Well you'll get a kick outta this, they were the one's that convinced him to buy the land in the first place. He claimed all the land to be useless and forced them to share it all to spite them after he died," Wheatly tried not to laugh.

"What? Are you serious?" Rose laughed. "Wow, I really wish I got to meet this old man. Talk about from the grave punishment, ha!"

"Heh, I didn't know that part," Engineer finally said with a smile. "I knew they were boneheads but I didn't think they were that stupid that young."

"Agreed," Rose nodded as she too leaned back in her chair.

"Anyways, back to the files," Wheatly said, "Whoa….this fight went on for one hundred and fifty years..."

"Wait, one hundred and fifty _years_?! How is that even possible?" Rose asked almost falling out of her chair once she heard that bit of info. "Engie, did you know that?" Engineer's body went stiff and his face expressionless. "Engie?"

"Says here that both of the brothers contacted a man named Radigan Conagher to build them a life extending machine that would help them outlast the other. They didn't know the other contacted this Conagher, so it wasn't until later on that they found out that the other was doing the same thing he was," the AI continued. "Huh, there isn't anything here about that man or which brother contacted him first. There's also mention of a lady named Elizabeth, but no hard facts. Nor is there anything on how the man was able to build said machines or -"

Engineer suddenly got up from his seat and quickly walked to the exit. "Hey! Engineer! What's wrong?" Rose called after him. Some of the other mercs looked up from their guns to see the Texan leave the room without a word, and as Rose got up to go after him, Medic stopped in front of her.

"It's probably best if you let him be, Rose," Medic said softly, as to not raise more attention.

"What do you mean? What did we say to -" Rose began to question, but was interrupted my the German again.

"Come. I vill explain," he said as he grabbed her arm and the two began to leave the room.

"Aw, but I was just getting to the best part of the two brothers!" Wheatly whined jokingly.

"Maybe later, Wheatly," Rose said as they walked out the door of the recreation room. "I want to find out why Engineer left in such a hurry."

Medic and Rose walked all the way back to the medical bay in silence, and once they were both through the doors, Medic turned to lock them and then walked over the wall behind his desk where a speaker had been and opened the speaker panel to press a button, and closed it back up. "Medic, what's going on? What's with all the secrecy? What's wrong with Engineer?" Rose asked.

Medic looked down to his feet, then up to Rose, whose expression was mixed with concern and confusion. Medic rubbed his nose just underneath his glasses and gave a sigh. He walked back over to Rose and looked right into her eyes. "Promise me zhat vhatever I tell you, does not leave zhis room?" he asked. Rose paused, realizing that this was much more serious than she let herself to believe. She sighed before she gave her answer, hoping to get some in return.

"Yes. I promise, Medic," she said, making eye contact once more. He gave another sigh.

"Alright. Zhere a lot of zhings here zhat not everyone knows, and if zhe do know, zhey don't understand. Zhe Administrator, she...vell, she isn't a very nice lady, meine dame. And not very many people cross her and live to tell about it. So firstly, please be careful vith vhere you get your information, Rose," he warned.

"Medic, I'm not afraid of her or what she might be capable of," Rose stated, becoming slightly agitated. "And I've told this to Pauling already. If she wants to come after me for digging around, then so be it. But if worse comes to worse, I'm taking her down with me. Now why did Engineer get so upset and leave without saying a word?"

"Right to zhe point. Heh, I admire zhat about you," he said with a light smile, that soon disappeared. "Alright look. I vas listening to vhat your friend was saying and I don't know much, but I do know zhat zhat man, Radigan Conagher, is Engineer's grandfather."

Rose's eyes widened. "Wait, are you serious?" Medic nodded. "Then he probably left 'cause we were digging around and bringing up what I would assume is bad history?"

"Possibly. He did tell me zhat it vas Blutarch zhat originally hired his grandfather to build the life-prolonging machine. He also told me he used Australium to do so," Medic explained. Rose froze, looking at Medic with a blank expression. "Eh, Rose?"

Rose remembered back to her conversation that she had with Miss Pauling a while back about the Australium, and that she had promised to not say anything to anyone. But Medic and Engineer already knew. "Um, really?" Rose said, trying to play it off like she didn't know. "Australium can do that?"

"Erm, yes. It's propertied aside from zhat are also unknown, but..." Medic trailed off. Rose noticed that he seemed unsure of what he wanted to say next.

"Hey, it's okay, Medic," Rose said, putting her hand on his arm. "You told me a lot, and explained the situation to me. If you feel uncomfortable telling me anymore, it's fine. I don't want you to get into trouble because of me."

Medic paused, and looked down at his feet, rubbing the back of his neck. Then he looked back at her before responding. "Zhank you, Rose."

"Hey, no problem! And I promise I won't say a word. In the mean time, however, I should probably go check up on Engineer and go over some schematics I've been thinking about to help get his mind off of things," she explained.

"Zhat vould probably be best," Medic agreed.

"Oh, but I should probably get my notebook from the room first. It has all of my sketches."

Rose let go of Medic's arm and hurried into their room. Once in she walked over to the nightstand next to her bed and opened the top drawer to find her notebook sitting right on top. She sighed with some relief and grabbed it, but then paused; underneath laid the black pocket knife Medic let Rose have when she first arrived. As she remembered the encounter a warm smile came across her face as she ran her fingers across the folded knife. After a few seconds, however, she came back to reality and closed her dresser drawer and made her way back out to the medical bay, where she saw Medic organizing some of his tools and equipment.

"Oh hey Medic?" Rose asked. The doctor turned around to acknowledge her. "What were you gonna be for Halloween by the way? Since, you know, it's about three weeks away and all."

"Oh, hmmm," Medic pondered for a moment. "I actually do not know yet. But I'm sure I vill come up vith something!"

"Heh, I'm sure you will, doc. Anyways, I'm going to Engie's workshop to go over some plans for some gear I want. I'll talk to you later?"

"Ja!" Medic said with a wave.

Rose nodded and then made her way out of the medical bay and into the hallway. She walked down the corridor towards the stairs and stopped right before them. If she remembered correctly, Engineer's workshop was the door to the right of the stairs, the door with a simple wooden finish amongst the concrete walls of the hallway that surrounded it. Rose walked up to the doorway and paused; she hoped that he wasn't still upset about what they had talked about earlier, and that working on some new projects might help get his mind off of it. After a few moments of silence, she knocked on the door and waited. There was no response for a few seconds so she decided to knock again, and this time the door cracked open enough to reveal Engineer peeking out.

"Uh, hey Engineer," Rose greeted sheepishly.

"Oh, hey Rose," the Texan responded with a low tone. Rose's chest hurt slightly, hoping even more now that she didn't offend her friend earlier.

"I was wondering if you, um, wouldn't mind helping me go over some designs of some gear that I've been working on for a bit." Engineer looked at the ground as Rose started to bite her lower lip out of nervousness. "I think they're pretty cool gear, if I do say so myself, and maybe we can even go over some stuff for the Halloween party. What do ya say?"

Engineer kept his head lowered as he thought, and before Rose could say another word to try and convince him he looked up at her with a smile and opened his door wide, arm stretched out to allow her in. "Y'know what? That actually sounds like a pretty good idea, miss," he said, tone improved.

"Awesome!" Rose's chest loosened, and she felt relaxed. At least she didn't upset him too bad. "I drew a few sketches about some things but the one thing I really want to work on is -" Rose paused as she entered the room.

It was a rather large room, with parts and tools spread all over the place. The ceiling was about a full story tall laden with wires and power cords out of the way of any danger. There were some large welding machines as well as an adjustable gantry next to the far left wall and two power lift cranes, one of which had a small engine block chained and hanging from it. Directly in front of them, near the back wall, were three tables; a craft table in the center, littered with papers, parts and tools, the table to the left housed a large red tool box and some power tools, and the table to the right had containers with labels on them, signifying that they contained small bits and pieces ranging from nuts and bolts to assorted wires of varying lengths and sizes. The right wall had what looked like a few body parts from the various robots that they had fought, as well as other mechanical parts from Engineer's dispensers, turrets, and teleporters. Cabinets and shelves were scattered throughout the room, all with various objects on them.

"Wow..."Rose said as she took it all in, not remembering that it was this messy last time she was in here.

"Heh, sorry for the mess, ma'am," Engineer apologized. "Wasn't expectin' any type of company today, and I've been workin' on some side projects since you came in last to work on that watch." He walked over to his workbench and started cleaning it up for them to go over Rose's notes.

"Oh don't be sorry, man," Rose said, slowly making her way to the workbench as she continued to look around. "This is just a sign of creativity at work. Trust me, I would know, heh."

"Well I appreciate that, Rose," the Texan said as he pulled up two wooden bar stool chairs for them to sit on. "Here, we can go over what ya have and see what we can start on, how's that sound?"

Rose walked up and sat down, placing her black notebook on the center of the workbench. "That sounds pretty good to me, Engie," she said with a smile.

"Dell..." he said as he sat down.

"Hm?"

"Heh, my name, ma'am. You can call me Dell," he said. He took off his hard-hat and set it down to the left of him.

"Huh, first name basis now, eh?" she teased. "Alrighty then, Dell. Let me show you what I've been workin' on." Rose opened up her notebook and shuffled all the way to the center where she had started working on designs. "The firs designs I have are some retractable skate shoes. Ones that once a button is pressed on the heels of the shoes, can bring out a row of small wheels for easier access to mobility."

"Huh, well we could replace the soles of the shoes with all the wiring that would go into a contraption like that...there are some problems I see with that, though."

"Yeah, I know. Like all of the nature problems like water and dirt? Already thought of something that might help...you see, we could put rubber protection around the mechanics to keep out things like water and dirt, but before we'd get to that stage, we would first have to put the shoes together to make sure this idea would actually work."

"Well, can't argue with that. Should we head to town to buy some shoes there, or work on our own?" he asked.

"Hmm, we can go see what they have, and if nothing interests us, then we can just come back and start from scratch," Rose replied, going over her notes some more on the designs. "We're gonna be looking for shoes with a big enough base and sole that we can work with. Plus they have to fit. Oh and we'll probably have to buy a few pairs, you know, for those moments of trial and error."

"Oh yeah, that's true. Would want to just buy one or two pairs and mess 'em up and not have any more to work with," Dell agreed.

"Alright, now that we have a plan of sorts, let's head out and get things started!" Rose said as she stood up.

"Yeehaw! Let's get'er done!" he hooted. The two made it out of the workshop and down to the garage, where they hopped in Engineer's pick-up and headed into town.

Rose and Engineer spent the next few hours at the towns shoe shop, carefully looking at different options and finally coming out with some pairs they both agreed were perfect for their new project. Once they made it back to the compound they began to work on different drive boards and designs for the retractable skate shoes. The two worked so diligently that they lost track of time and didn't realize how late it had gotten until Wheatly came on to say something.

"Uh not to ruin this lovely time, but you two do realize that it's almost 2:00 AM, right?" Wheatly mentioned.

Rose was sitting on a stool in front of the workbench with a welding mask and welder in hand, currently working on piecing together the metal base board with the frame that was measure out for one pair of shoes, while Engineer was at the table to her right going through pieces of wiring. Rose lifted her mask up and the two looked at each other, then they both turned their heads to the wall clock that was hanging above them.

"Well I'll be damned," Dell said with a chuckle. "Was wondering why I was getting a bit weary-eyed for a moment there."

"The only reason I mentioned it was I noticed that Rose's lactic acid levels were getting a bit too high, and her muscles were becoming fatigued. Not to mention the levels of adenosine from her astrocyte cells were starting to cause some sleep pressure in her brain," the AI elaborated.

"Huh, he can get all that from you, Rose?" Engineer said, a bit surprised.

She took off the welding mask, adjusted her pony tail and put her hat back on and rubbed one of her eyes. "He sure can. The neuro-adaptor that houses him is directly connected to the top of my spine and stem of my brain. From there he can help me keep an eye on my vitals and let me know things, like when I get carried away on something and don't realize my body is telling me I need rest."

"Wow...I didn't know...how did ya even come about havin' an augmentation like that?" he asked. Rose looked away and gave a small sigh, remembering her days back at Aperture.

"That's...something I'm not exactly ready to talk about yet. Sorry Dell," she said as she rubbed the device on the back of her neck.

"Oh...hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up anythin' bad or nothin'," Dell apologized. He reached out and put his hand on her shoulder.

"No you're fine. Eventually I'll talk about it all, but...I'm just not ready, not yet."

"I understand, miss."

Rose looked up and saw Engineer smiling at her. She smiled back, signaling her thanks, and then gave a long yawn. "OOOoooh man, yeah, I need to get some rest."

"Heh, same here. Y'all better get to it and get some shut eye. This'll be here when ya get up."

"Yeah, hehe, sleep sounds really good right about now." She got up from her seat and stretched, then made her way to the door. "G'night, Dell!"  
"Night, Rose!"

Rose walked out and closed the door behind her and walked towards the medical bay. "Thanks for catching me, Wheatly," she said as she walked.

"Of course, Rose! That's what I'm here fore. Well, that, and making sure you don't do anything stupid," he teased.

"Heh, yeah. I think we made good progress on those shoes, though," she stated. "I think tomorrow I might work on my costume. We made a lot of headway and I really want to get started on that before I get too caught up on anything else."

"Either way, it'll keep you busy, huh?"

"Yeah, and that I don't mind."

Rose got to the doors of the medical bay and walked in quietly, so as to not disturb the birds, and made it to her's and Medic's room. Once in the room, she quietly took off her shoes and hat, and went right to sleep once her head hit her pillow.

* * *

The next two and a half weeks were full of building, experimenting, designing, planning, and training for Rose and her team. Between working on the skate shoes and designing her costume, Rose tried to make time to organize the Halloween party and find time to train with the mercenaries in the VR room. She had a few more sessions with Spy, learning his tactics and skills, how he would react in different scenarios, as well as working with him on training missions as a duo to better understand how to use each others skills on the battlefield. She also oversaw other training sessions where a few of the mercs wanted to go one on one, mostly Soldier going up against anyone he called a sissy. The most entertaining one she had the pleasure of watching over was when Scout decided to challenge the old war dog which ended up having him on Medic's operating table with a rocket shoved up his rear.

It was three days until Halloween and Rose was getting pretty excited about hanging out with actual people for her favorite holiday of the year. Her costume was coming along very nicely and the skate-shoe project was doing well, too. She decided to have their party at an abandoned gravel building that coincidentally was considered to be haunted. When Rose heard the haunted part, she was a bit skeptic, but she did think it would be an ideal place to have their little Halloween party. Today, however, she was putting on the finishing touches to her caretaker outfit that she had put together on a dress stand that she had found hidden away in one of the storage rooms.

She pulled away as she added the hat and took in her work; to start with, over the entirety of the costume was a black overcoat that had gray cuffs with black stripes that went up the middle of the forearm of the coat. The coat also had a collar that stuck up and had the same design as the cuffs and the backside was a petticoat design from the waist down. Underneath the overcoat was a blood red, button-down suit vest that was tailored at the shoulders so Rose also had to wear a white, long-sleeved undershirt. The top section also had a bow tie that matched the color of the suit vest and that had a skull in the center of it and the undershirt's collar was long and stuck up from underneath the vest.

The pants were long, almost a boot cut, and had a black and white vertical stripes that were the design. The shoes were mid-calf, three buckle heel boots that were as pitch black as the overcoat was. To top off the entire ensemble she had a black top hat with a blood red sash around the base of the hat. Aside from the make-up part of her costume, she was basically finished.

"Well I'll be," Wheatly spoke up, breaking the silence in her room. "That looks down right deathly, ha!"

"Hehehe, thanks! I know this isn't exactly what they wore then, or anything like it, but it still looks really good! Now I just need to come up with a good make-up scheme for it."

"Oh I know you will just kill it with this costume!" Wheatly joked. Rose couldn't help but laugh at the pun he had made.

"Alright, alright, hold the jokes for later," Rose held her hands up in surrender, "We gotta go check in with Pauling and see if she's still down for Halloween. You never know what kind of crazy nonsense that old woman has her doing sometimes."

"Fair enough. I'll yield until then," Wheatly said.

Rose headed out of her room and through the medical bay to the hallway where she then made a straight shot for the recreation room, where Miss Pauling said she would be for the day. Once through the door, Rose saw the assistant near the cabinets putting something in the mounted microwave and a glass of ice water in front of her on the counter.

"Hey Pauling, how's it going?" Rose said as she waved. Miss Pauling turned around and with weary eyes, gave a weak smile and waved back. "Whoa, you look like you just pulled a 48 hour shift. You doin' okay?"

"Funny you should mention 48 hours….I've been pulling a lot of extra time for the Administrator so I can have Halloween evening off with you guys," the assistant huffed. "I've been living off of cheap pizza and caffeine for the past two days."

"Girl, and it is doing nothing for your complexion!" Wheatly popped up, one hand on his hip and the other in the air. Miss Pauling glared at the AI and Rose had to stifle a giggle. "Ahem, I mean – uh – you look like you could use a great deal of rest, Miss Pauling." He quickly disappeared.

"No kidding..." she sighed. "Anyways, thankfully I only have a few more things to take care of and then I'm going to sleep for as long as I can before the party."

"Well I certainly hope so! I don't want you going anywhere unless you've had the proper sleep!" Rose insisted.

"Oh it's not like I haven't done this before," the woman said as she pulled out the plate of what Rose could smell was leftover pizza and went to go sit at one of the tables. Rose followed to make sure Pauling didn't fall over on the way there.

"That still doesn't instill any sort of confidence in me, Pauling," Rose commented.

"Don't worry! I'll be fine, and I'll be at the party! I've even been planning a session of Gargoyles & Gravel to play if anyone is interested!"

"Huh, really? That actually sounds like fun. I've wanted to play G & G for a bit now, but never had the chance – or known the people – to play a session."

"Neither have I!" Pauling smiled, but then it quickly faded. "Come to think of it, I haven't really known anyone aside from the mercs that actually understands, well, me..."

"Huh, well not to down ya or anything, but I can kinda see why. The Administrator doesn't really let you have a life outside of this, does she?" Rose asked.

"Not really, no. But that's okay! I don't really mind or anything, but…" Pauling looked down at her food, "It's kinda nice to have someone to talk to now."

Rose paused; she never really thought about it, but Pauling was right. Rose had also been alone for quiet some time, and it was nice to finally be around people that she could kind of call friends. Her heart ached a bit for Miss Pauling, though, because none of the other mercs actually take her all that seriously. "Heh, I guess you're right," Rose finally spoke up after a moment of silence.

"What do you mean?" the assistant looked at her quizzically.

"I mean, I don't really know very many people I can call friends either, but here I am. Granted, it's strange to call mercenaries your friends, but hey, I'll take what I can get, y'know?"

Pauling looked back at her food, and after some thought, a smile came across her face. "Yeah, that's a fair point."

"Anyways, we can be sappy later. Right now, you have some food to eat, and I should go make sure no one is killing each other in the VR room. But seriously, you need rest woman."

"I second that," Wheatly said.

"Alright, alright! I get it. Rest good, work bad," Pauling teased as she shoved the first slice into her mouth. "I can handle it, I promithf!"

"Don't talk with your mouth full, ma'am!" Rose teased back. "We don't need you chocking next!"

Miss Pauling waved her away and Rose got up with a chuckle and made her way out of the recreation room to go find the others, and get everyone ready for the big night.

* * *

"Wait, so let me get this straight; you're going to put his brain...in that pumpkin?" Rose, Medic and Engineer were standing in the back of the building where they were working on a Halloween project that Medic had suddenly come up with on his way to the party. Rose and Medic were standing around a make-shift operating table and Engineer was standing behind them holding an unopened can of beer. Rose was looking at Medic, who was dressed as a mad scientist and currently wiring a brain with some wires and circuits that Engineer and Rose put together.

"Ja! I told you earlier, zhis vill make a fine addition to zhe decorations you already put up, Rose," Medic said, continue to work on the human brain.

"Say, where'd you get this thing, anyway? Y'all didn't...dig it up, didja?" Engineer asked, a bit of worry on his face.

"Ahaha! Oh no, it's quite fresh, I assure you." Rose looked at Engineer and noticed he was a bit more relieved.

"Wait. So where didja get -" Engineer began to ask, but Medic interrupted mid-sentence.

"Ah! It's working!" Medic said with relief. "Yes! Team work mein freund! Ve are geniuses!"

"Ahh, weren't nothin'. Y'all wanna beer?" Engineer asked, opening the beer he had in his hand. Rose shook her head, as she tried to examine the brain. "Not during surgery. Anyway, she patient is ready."

"Let me see!" Rose said as Medic held the brain in his hands. He held it out to her as she poked at the brain, examining the wiring that the German doctor had done on it, clearly fascinated. "And you said it would work inside the pumpkin, right? Because of the organics of the vegetable?"

"Yes. Vith this extra wiring to drive a current through the brain stem, it should be able to bring zhe organism back to life, and zhe tissue inside zhe pumpkin should keep it fresh and alive for a time," Medic explained.

"Huh, I would have never had tried that," Rose stated.

"Well I certainly hope you wouldn't," Wheatly spoke up. "That is just plain wrong."

"Oh there's no harm in a little experimenting, Wheatly. I mean, that's how I ended up with you," Rose said as she helped Medic put the brain inside the large pumpkin by holding the vegetable down.

"I don't recall you shoving a brain into a vegetable into a pumpkin for my sake!" he said, sounding a bit disgusted.

"Ha! Well no, but if it wasn't for the sake of experimenting, and trying things no else would, you wouldn't be here."

"Ehhh, I suppose," Wheatly still sounded unsure.

"Rose, you simply must tell me how you came about your friend at some point!" Medic mentioned. "It is a fascinating bit of science, after all."

"Heh, later doc. Right now, I wanna see this whole surgery done."

"Fair enough," Medic finished putting the brain in and closed the top off. He then leaned down to see if his creation was alive. "Hello? Can you hear me, my beautiful creation?"

"...Ungh..." the pumpkin groaned. Rose's eyes grew wide with excitement as a smile grew across her face. _'No way...'_ she thought to herself. "Where am I?" the pumpkin actually spoke. "Last thing I remember was robbin' some nerdy German tourist in an ally, then...then..." it trailed off. "Oh God." The voice sounded male, with a bit of a New York accent, mid-tone.

Rose was trying her hardest to not explode with excitement that the experiment was a success, Medic was standing tall and proud and Engineer tried to not drop his beer. "Water under zhe bridge, mein kleines ungeheuer! Welcome to your new life! As a Halloween decoration!" Medic said with a smile, patting the pumpkin. "Zhink of it as a chance to turn your life around!"

"How the hell's he gonna do that on the porch?" Engineer asked.

"Heh, Engie's got a point Medic. I mean, he is a decoration after all," Rose chimed.

"He can scare zhe children straight!" Medic stated.

"I got a better idea," the pumpkin spoke up again. "All of you give me all your money and no one gets hurt."

Rose almost burst out laughing, but caught herself as Engineer picked up the pumpkin. Medic gave a wistful sigh, "Ahh...you can take zhe brain out of zhe criminal and put it in zhe pumpkin, but you can't take zhe criminal out of zhe brain in zhe pumpkin. Ooo. Also, don't take zhe brain out of zhe pumpkin."

"Haha, well obviously doc," Rose teased. She was already done cleaning herself up while her companions were talking with the pumpkin.

"Time ta scare some kids, lil' fella," Engineer said as he began to walk towards the front door with the pumpkin in hand.

"Hey wait up! Catch ya in a bit Medic?" Rose said as she turned to the German who was just starting to clean up.

"Ja ja, I'll be zhere in just a moment, Rose" he said with a smile. "You go on ahead and enjoy yourself!"

Rose smiled back and went to catch up the Texan, and when she approached she had heard the pumpkin try and be threatening again.

"When I break outta this pumpkin I am going to kill all of you. You hear me?" he said as he was being carried. Rose gave a low giggle as she walked with Engineer to the front door.

As the two were walking they past by everyone else who was basically doing their own thing; Sniper, who was dressed as a vampire hunter was holding up his Huntsman bow, taking aim at an apple that was sitting on top of Demoman's head, who was currently dressed as a werewolf taking a drink of his scotch. Spy was standing off to the side giving a thumbs up to signal Sniper that he was good for a shot, cigarette lighted up in his mouth and dressed as the invisible man, but with wraps around his face and a scarf around his neck. Pyro was sitting on the ground where the two had come from and was currently hacking away at a pumpkin with his fire axe, dressed as, well, himself.

Rose then looked over at a nearby table and saw Pauling, dressed as a sort of witch with a top-hat that had a make-shift eye poking from the top of it, Heavy sitting next to her as he looked like Frankenstein's Monster, his large arms crossed against his chest, Soldier who was dressed in his robot disguise, and Scout who for some reason was dressed as a chicken.

"Hey Engie, I'll catch up, I'm gonna check in on them," Rose said. Engineer gave a smile and nod and continued on his way to the front porch. As Rose walked up to the group, she noticed that they were all gathered around playing Gargoyles & Gravel. Intrigued, she walked up between Miss Pauling and Heavy, staying quiet and listening in to the game.

" _The moldy door is slightly ajar_ ," Pauling described as she looked at the game masters guide that was propped up. " _You hear the faint murmur of high pitched voices. Soldier, your character recognizes their speech...as the Goblin Tongue-_ "

"Goblins?" Soldier interrupted, "I pick up..."

"I wind up Sasha. I enter room. I destroy Goblins," Heavy stated. Rose tried not to laugh.

"Um, okay," Miss Pauling was a bit put off by the unimaginative gesture that Heavy brought into the game. "You don't want to talk with your party first, or…?"

"No. I enter room and kill Goblins with Sasha."

Miss Pauling grabs a pair of dice and reaches over in front of Heavy. "You got it. Just roll to hit and..." she drops the dice in front of the Russian, and he just looks at them. "And..." she tries to urge.

"Miss Pauling. You have seen me in this exact situation with much worse than Goblins," Heavy began to state plainly. "You do not need these dice. You have my word. I will kill these Goblins."

Rose began to giggle lightly, but then Pauling gave a small sigh. " _You...um...kill all the Goblins._ "

"Yes."

Pauling continues, " _In the center of the_ _room is an amulet on a pedestal...SOLDIER...that looks VERY DEADLY...SOLDIER...so you PROBABLY DON'T WANT TO-"_

"I PICK UP THE AMULET!" Soldier exclaims. Heavy sighs while Scout face-palms.

"Pffft!" Rose snickers.

"Aw, come on, dumdum!" Scout begins, "This is the third time we've hadta restart this stupid...ah _lovely_ game of Miss Pauling's. Every time ya pick up the amulet it kills _all of us_!"

Soldier lifted his cardboard helmet over his face. "I will not be cowed by jewelry! That amulet belongs around my neck! Miss Pauling, I pick up the amulet."

Rose looks over to Miss Pauling who nonchalantly rolls a handful of dice and without looking comments " _The amulet kills all of you._ "

"STOP PICKIN' UP THE FRICKIN' AMULET!" Scout yells at Soldier.

"We might be pretending we're in fairy land, m'lady, but we are still playing in AMERICA!" Soldier began. "You can stop me from getting killed by that amulet when you pry it from my cold, dead hands!" Suddenly Soldier jumps over the table and wraps his hands around Scouts neck and begins to choke Scout out. "SAY IT! ADMIT YOU HATE AMERICA!"

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Rose couldn't hold back her laughter any longer and fell right to floor laughing. "OH MY GOD GUYS SERIOUSLY!? HAHAHAHAH!"

"Ach! You are...the worst...at this stupid game..." Scout managed to say as he was getting the life chocked out of him.

All of a sudden there was a knock at the door, and Rose quieted her laughter while Soldier continued to choke out Scout. "Hahaha-eh I though everyone was already here," she said as she got up from the floor. Before anyone could respond, they heard a booming voice come from outside.

"IT IS I! MERASMUS!" the voice howled.


	21. MERASMUS

The Tenth Class

Chapter 21: MERASMUS

"Wait. Who's Merasmus?" Rose asked as she got up from the floor, wiping tears out of her eyes from laughing so hard.

"Oh him? He's my old roommate," Soldier began to explain, while continuing to choke Scout on the table. "He's a wizard. Every Halloween he comes by and gives us a spooky surprise!"

"Heh, I didn't mean the game was stupid, Miss Pauling..." Scout was able to choke out. "I'm having...a great time!"

"He gives you guys surprises?" Pauling asked, clearly ignoring Scout, "Aw that's nice of -"

"Every Halloween he comes here and tries to kill us," Heavy stated as he leans back in his chair and crosses his arms.

"Wait, seriously?" Rose asked. "Why does he do that? And...he was you're roommate, Soldier? How does that even happen?"

"And why do you let him in, in the first place?" the assistant chimed in and asked.

"He's a _wizard_ , Miss Rose and Miss Pauling," Soldier stated plainly, letting go of Scout's throat and standing straight up.

"* _cough_ * Yeah, he knows magic and crap," Scout coughed as he sat up on the table.

"FOOLS!" the voice said again, "IT IS I! MERAS ...Murray...with you're pizza!"

"Oh good! Merasmurray's here!" Soldier said. Rose put her hand up to her face and shook her head, and Miss Pauling crossed her arms.

"Soldier, that's still Merasmus..." she said.

"NNNNOOOOOOOO! MUST...FIGHT...HIS POWERFUL MAGIC!" Soldier shouted.

"Oh jeez," Rose sighed.

"He can't be serious, right?" Wheatly whispered, finally speaking up.

Soldier quickly ran up to the front door and put his face up to the door. "If you're really the pizza man, prove it! Slide the pizza under the door!"

"FOOL! It is a party-sized deep dish! It would never fit!" Merasmus continued his charade, which only fooled Soldier, as everyone else began to come near the door.

"I'm going to need a proof slice!" Soldier stated. "Slide it through the mail slot!"

"Aha! But how do I know _you_ ordered the food! Put your face through the mail slot first!"

"As stupid as this is sounding, I gotta give him credit," Rose began, "He's definitely persistent."

"Ach, not zhis nonsense again," Medic came up next to Rose as he slung a towel over his shoulder. "Zhis dummkopf does zhis every year."

"But why?" Rose asked.

Before Medic could respond, Spy walked passed them and up behind Soldier. "Don't put your face up to zhe mail slot," he stated plainly. Rose could tell that he was expecting Soldier to do just that.

"I am going to put my up to the mail slot. Here I go. Oorah," Soldier said, ignoring Spy's warning. Soldier lifted the mail slot and all Rose saw were glowing green eyes, and a big nose peering through from the other side.

"FOOLS! It is I! MERASMUS! And tonight I will -"

Soldier immediately closed the mail slot before the wizard could complete his sentence. "Brace yourselves everyone!" the war dog shouted out as he stood back up. "It was Merasmus! There was no pizza, repeat no pizza! We are all going to starve unless we all agree to eat Scou-"

"Let me handle zhis," Spy said as he walked up to the door. The others gathered a bit closer as Spy leaned up to the left of the door. Pauling made her way to the window to see what all the commotion was about and Sniper came up behind her to see as well. "Merasmus: It's Spy," he began plainly, "Let me guess: you want us to drive out to some graveyard or haunted castle or something, to have us kill each other, because you are in debt to yet another international criminal organization, because you've purchased some idiotic artifact that you need us to fill with...souls or blood or something."

Rose was quite surprised at what Spy said; did this wizard, if he was actually that, do all these things to them before? And if so, why? As she let her thoughts wonder, she couldn't help but notice that the boisterous wizard didn't respond to Spy right away like he had earlier.

"I...no..." Merasmus muttered. Rose had a feeling that was exactly the reason for his visit. Rose also heard another man outside whisper "Be cool…"

"Heh and here I though tonight was going to be boring," Rose whispered to Medic. He gave out a little chuckle as the conversation continued.

"Okay, look. Merasmus is going to level with you, it is Merasmus..." he began. Rose face-palmed herself.

"Well isn't he a smart cookie," Wheatly teased.

"Shhh," Rose hushed. Merasmus continued.

"And I do have an Eldritch Idol of Ancient Evil that hungers for souls. And yes, I did borrow quite a lot of money from the Russian Mafia to buy it..."

"And we should care because…?" Spy said, kneeling to the mail slot.

"Wait, what does he have? Why have I heard that term Eldritch before?" Rose murmured to herself. Wheatly caught on however.

"I can to a search to find out, if you'd like?" he said.

"In a moment, let's see where this goes first," Rose said, "I'm getting kind of excited about where this is going."

"Perhaps Merasmus could trouble you to look through the mail slot one more time?" Merasmus asked, almost pleading.

Spy looked at Miss Pauling, who just shrugged, then at Rose, who also shrugged. He then lifted the mail slot with one index finger, not bothering to look out the slot. "FOOLS! If the lambs won't come to the slaughter, Merasmus will bring the slaughter to the lambs! Tonight will be a grim cavalcade of Halloweens past!" the wizard exclaimed.

"Wait, wait, wait, what?" Rose headed over to the window with Sniper and Miss Pauling and was immediately mesmerized with what she saw.

There were what looked like portals that lead into different areas, and as far as she knew, into different times in the mercenaries' past involving this wizard. As Rose examined what she was looking at, her eyes fell on Merasmus, who didn't even bothering looking at the window, but kept focused on the door. He looked like he was a few centuries old, with the skull of what looked like a ram on his head, donned in a single robe with a rope tied around his waist. He held his arms high above his head and his eyes glowed green. Rose couldn't believe her eyes; she was about to deal with a real life wizard.

"Kill your enemies! Kill your past selves! Be killed by my past self! Either way, I get the souls!" Rose's attention went back to the portals. There were a total of six portals, each had a picture of some oddly bone-chilling scenes.

The first she saw was a portal of what looked to be some pumpkin-headed skeleton man that wielded a huge, and slightly terrifying ax. The next one had a picture of a floating eye-ball that was shooting some sort of deadly purple energy out of it. The third one was a whole army of skeletons and the fourth looked like two old zombies were about to duke it out with one another. _'_ _Wait...'_ Rose paused, _'Is that….are those the Mann brothers?'_ she thought to herself. It was entirely possible since one had a red bowler hat on and the other had a blue one. _'_ _But if so, how…?'_ As she continued to think about it, she scanned the last two portals, her eyes landing on the fifth one, which appeared to have some people riding some sort of haunted bumper cars. Rose shook her head and continued on to the next one; the last portal showed Merasmus himself, and in front of him there was what appeared to be a magical spell book of some kind. As Rose continued thinking her eyes landed on the two men accompanying the wizard, and for some reason they were more interested in the pumpkin that her, Medic, and Engineer had worked on earlier. Suddenly she was more interested in what they were saying than anything.

"Sooo...you are talking pumpkin, yes?" one asked as he knelled down to talk to the ex-criminal.

"You got that right," she heard the pumpkin say, "Hey, uh you guys hiring?"

As she was trying to listen in, she heard a familiar metal click coming from the front door, and looked over from the window to see that Spy had closed the mail slot again. "FOOLS! You...have closed the mail slot..." Merasmus said as his arms slumped to his side. "Accidentally..."

One of the mafia men stood up with the pumpkin in hand, "There gonna be a problem here?" he asked.

"I say we whack him, Sergei," the ex-living criminal said. _'Heh, since when did pumpkins start giving orders?'_ Rose mused to herself.

All the mercenaries then began to return to their normal activities, but Rose continued to stay near the window as she watched the group outside. "Where were we?" she heard Miss Pauling say. The assistant, along with Soldier, Scout, and Heavy went back to their game, but Rose could tell Heavy was getting a bit annoyed with the game. "Oh right, the amulet. Soldier, you DO NOT WANT TO..."

"Leave my amulet sitting where anyone can take it, I know," he said as he sat down. "I pick up the amulet."

Heavy sighed and picked up his gun, looking at the freelancer. Rose getting the hint decided to speak up, "So I know you guys don't want to deal with this Merasmus guy, but look..." she started. Everyone's attention landed on her. "There are actual monsters out there, and a real bad guy. And from you guys say, it sounds like he hasn't learned his lesson about messing with you, yeah?"

Some of the men were smiling and nodding, while the rest waited for her to finish. "Okay, so how's about it guys? Let's go out there and kick his ass!"

Sniper spoke up first, "Ah why not?"  
"Very well," Spy chimed in, putting on some reflective glasses that ha used for his costume.

"Yeah, sure," Scout said unenthusiastically.

"Okay, I'm in. But I'm bringing the amulet!" Soldier said as he got up from his chair.

"Soldier, the amulet isn't...ugh, never mind," Miss Pauling said, shaking her head. "Alright, Rose. I'm in!"

The group then gathered their gear and weapons, Rose going to her pack to grab her swords from it, and the others gathered outside. Rose stood in front of the group, her blades ready and waiting for a fight, along with the rest of the mercenaries standing behind her.

"Hey Merasmus!" She shouted. "We accept your challenge! I….uh….the hell?"

Merasmus was sitting straight up in the trunk of a car tied up, while three of the mafia men were standing there, the leader holding the pumpkin who was holding a gun up to the wizard. _'_ _Are you kidding me right now?'_ Rose thought to herself trying not to laugh. _'He's a freakin' wizard...'_

"Oh, thank God..." the wizard said.

* * *

"Now then, where were we…?" Merasmus said as he dusted himself off from almost being killed in the trunk of a car. "Ah yes. Ahem...FOOLS! I, THE GREAT MERASMUS WILL -"

"Let me stop you there, tough guy," Rose interrupted.

"What?" Merasmus looked to the front of the group, and saw Rose. "Wait, I don't remember you...who are you?" he asked, a tad bit confused.

"Hi, I'm Rose, nice to meet you," she said, holding both her swords in her right hand and stretching out her left for a handshake.

"Oh ho ho, you're so polite!" The wizard began to hold out his hand, "So much nicer than these brute – wwhOA!" Rose grabbed his extended hand and yanked him closer.

Now she was staring him down in the eyes, "Look, I'm not here to make niceties. My guys and I were having a swell evening on this amazing holiday until you showed up with your stupid face..."

"Now that's a little uncalled for. I know I don't look the best but -" Merasmus began to whine.

"Shut it." Rose held her swords up to the wizards throat.

* Gulp * "Heh, I mean, yes! Yes it is very stupid, I agree! Heheh..." he said nervously.

"Okay, now look, I still want to enjoy this evening, and I'm fairly certain most of these guys don't want to have anything to do with you, and I'm also sure they would rather leave you with that group of Russian mobsters over there," Rose said, nodding to the men near the car, who were just watching the whole scene transpire.

"Zhat's not a bad idea, Rose," Spy interjected.

"I agree, but none the less," she continued. "We will only pick one of these portals to go through and deal with all the stupid, crazy, nonsense inside of it, and if we win the challenge inside, we call it a night, deal?"

Merasmus looks at the portals, Rose still holding her blades to the wizard's throat, then he looked back at her, and a wicked grin spread across his face. "Very well, Miss Rose. Which of these horrible nightmares of Halloweens past will you choose? Which of these past challenges do you wish to torture yourself, and these..ah, men, with?"

Rose turned her attention to the portals and studied them. She had never experienced anything like what the mercs had in the past, so she had no idea what she would be getting herself into. But she had the team with her, and that was all she needed. "Alright guys," she turned her head slightly to see the mercs, "Which would you guys like to do?"

"Not the one with the freakin' bumper cars, please God no..." Scout pleaded.

"I agree with little man," Heavy said with a huff.

"N' I didn't quite enjoy fightin' me own eyeball," Demoman said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I agree with ya there, partner," Engineer said.

"OH! LET'S GO KICK MERASMUS' ASS AGAIN!" Soldier shouted with enthusiasm. "I could kick that hippie wizard's rear all day! With my boot! Or my rocket launcher...I'm not really choosey..."

"Yeah, I could go for a real challenge there, mate," Sniper spoke up, agreeing.

"OOOOH hoho! Zhat vas so much fun! Rose, you must choose to fight Merasmus! I promise you von't be disappointed!" Medic said gleefully.

"Heheh," Rose chuckled. "Okay then. Pauling, what do you say?"

The assistant was quiet for most of the time, but she looked at the portal that had Merasmus in it and looked back at Rose with a smile. "Yeah, sure. It could be fun!"

"Alright then," Rose let go of the wizard. "Merasmus, we choose to fight you...again...well for me it's the first time but...y-you know what I mean."

"Hmmmhmmm….haha….MWAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU FOOLS! YOU HAVE JUST DOOMED YOURSLEVES! Prepare yourselves for horrors so unimaginable that you will die from sheer fright alone! AND ALL OF YOUR SOULS WILL BE MINE!" the wizard shouted.

"Less talk, more fight you overgrown, magical hippie in a dress!" Soldier shouted.

"Hngh, Soldier for the last time, it's not a – you know what? Never mind," Merasmus sighed as he lifted his arms as green energy flowed from his hands. "Let the blood-bath...COMMENCE!"

All of a sudden the whole mercenary group was magically teleported to another area entirely in a sudden flash of green light. Rose blinked her eyes a bit and when she was able to see, she saw that the group was in an area that looked like it was straight out of an old scare movie.

The group was standing on a central walkway between to wooden towers that looked like they had seen better years, planks falling off and some missing. The towers looked like they weren't even complete and as Rose looked in front of them, she saw two more wooden towers that were connected by a 20 ft tall wooden wall that had scattered wooden planks running across the back wall. Through the wall, Rose spotted a hill across a dimly lit lake that led up to a giant gaping scull that emitted a green glowing light.

"Where the hell are we?" Rose said as she walked over to the back wall.

"I...I don't know," Wheatly spoke up, "We aren't on any known geological location that I can find."

"Aw crap, not this place again," Rose heard Scout complain. She turned to see the group, weapons drawn, and looking around at the place, apparently not surprised by their current location.

"What is 'this place,' exactly?" Rose said as she made her way back to the group.

"Zhis was zhe place we faced Merasmus the first time, after Soldier had, well...um," Medic tried to explain.

"After Soldier had angered him so bad his ghost literally left his body, Soldier burned it, and caused zhe wizard to go on a murderous rampage on us because Soldier can't die," Spy summed up.

Rose looked at the group with the most confused look on her face. Then she glanced at Soldier, who currently had his pinkie finger up his nose under his robot box helmet. "He...did what? And what do you mean he can't die? What the hell did I get us into exactly?!" Rose said, suddenly feeling a pang of regret and anxiousness rising in her body.

"Well -" Engineer started but the whole area lit up with and explosion of green light again.

"FOOLS! WELCOME...TO YOUR DOOM!" Merasmus shouted.

Rose's jaw almost dropped to the floor. "Is….is he a GHOST?!" she exclaimed. Merasmus was now a green specter, floating in front of them, holding a wooden cane in his right hand, and a book that had a bomb on the front of it in his left.

"Yup," Engineer said, raising his shotgun.

Before Rose could speak again, Merasmus spoke up in another boisterous voice. "Behold! The Bombinomicon!" he shouted as he held up the book.

"Eeeeh, guys! Long time no see! Eh, how have you guys been? Oh you're new," the book spoke up and began to float up out of the wizards hands.

"Oh man," Scout said, getting in his running position.

"Wait, it can talk?!" Rose said.

"What in the world is happening?!" Wheatly freaked out.

"Hey, I'm a bomb book! It's pretty good," the book said, introducing itself to Rose as he floated towards her.

"G-guys..." she stuttered, bringing up her swords and readying herself for a fight. Suddenly Medic and Engineer put themselves in between the book and Rose, Engineer brandishing his shotgun and Medic his bone saw.

"Merasmus! Ye cowardly wizard! Let's start this already!" Demoman shouted, bringing up his grenade launcher.

"I couldn't agree more, Demoman! HAHAHAHAHA! Enjoy Halloween mortals, for it will be your last!" he said. He brought up his staff and a ball of green energy fired from it, heading straight towards the group.

Engineer dodged to his right, and Medic turned to Rose and tackled her to the ground, the ball of magical energy just barely missing them. The others scattered either to the left or right of the platform, narrowly escaping the blast the magical ball had created.

Rose had closed her eyes tight and had prevented herself from hitting her head on the ground as Medic fell on top of her. They laid still for a few seconds, hoping another ball of energy wouldn't be fired, and when they felt like it was safe, they both opened their eyes and looked around. Rose noticed that Medic still had her wrapped up in his arms as he looked around for the wizard in case he decided to attack directly again.

"Uh, Medic?" she said sheepishly.

"Hmm?" he said, turning his attention to her, unaware that he was still holding on to her.

"Um, I think it's safe to let go now, doc," she smiled.

"Oh? Oh! Oh dear, heh, I suppose you are right," he fumbled. His face instantly turned beat red as he picked himself up and helped Rose to her feet. They both dusted themselves off and Rose looked around to see if the others fared.

"Is everyone okay?" she asked. "Pauling? You still there?"

* cough cough * "Yeah, I'm okay. Luckily, Scout broke my fall," the assistant said. Rose looked over one of the edges of the walkway where Miss Pauling's voice came from and saw her sitting on top of Scout, who was laying next to Demoman, Sniper, Soldier and Heavy.

"Uh hehe, no prob Miss Pauling," Scout said as he was gasping for air as she sat on his chest, "Always willing to help a damsel in distress!"

Seeing they were okay, Rose rushed to the other side of the walkway to check on the rest of the team and to her relief, they were all okay and dusting themselves off from the explosion.

"Damn you Merasmus! When I get my hands on you I'm going to rip your spine out of you ass and beat you with it!" Rose heard Soldier exclaim. She turned to see him pick up his rocket launcher and shake his fist in the air.

"Heh, get in line man," Rose said, activating the electro-pulse in her swords. Soldier looked over and grinned.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Merasmus cackled.

"Hngh, guys we need to find cover, and fast," Rose instructed.

"Oi! Over here! Quit standin' around like bloody idiots!" Sniper hollered at the group.

Rose turned to see the Australian standing behind a doorway that lead into a rather large building that stood tall behind them. She was the first that started towards him, and the rest followed suit immediately. Once they were all in, Rose took in her surroundings; the first thing she noticed was a giant hole in the center of the room. She slowly walked over to the whole and noticed that the edges all around the sides had what appeared to be teeth surrounding them.

"Okay...now before we do anything or go anywhere, would someone please explain what in the HELL I GOT US INTO!?" Rose demanded as she flung her arm towards the gaping hole.

The mercs all looked at one another, smiling sheepishly. "Well, we did neglect to tell ya that the last time we fought this clown, he uh, used a spell book of bombs against us," Engineer explained.

"Oh and he can change into a ghost!" Medic burst.

"Okay, that's all well and good, but how do we fight him?!" Rose asked.

"Hmmm, if I remember correctly, we had a cap point we had to take control of to lure him out, but by the looks of it that won't work," the Texan started.

"And why's that?" Rose asked.

"Because there _is no_ cap point." Engineer and Rose peered through the door along the walkway and he was right, there was no point there to capture to lure the wizard out of hiding.

"Okay, what else happened?" the freelancer asked.

"Let's see...whenever that wizard appeared, that bomb book would come out and choose two of us to run at him with bombs for heads to stun him so we could do extra damage to him. Oh, and he has a Wheel of Fate, or somethin'."

"Wheel of Fate?" Rose asked

"Yeah, some stupid wheel thingy with cards on it," Scout intervened.

"Nine, to be exact," Spy added. "Each one has either something that could help us, or hinder us."

"What do you mean by that, Spy?" Miss Pauling spoke up.

"Zhe cards are of different variety, and some of zhem can help us. If memory serves correct, zhere is even one zhat allows everyone to become Übercharged for a few seconds," he elaborated.

"Hmm, okay so we have to look out for that," Rose said. "But without the cap point, how are we going to lure him out?"

"I think I have an idea..." Miss Pauling said.

* * *

"You guys ready?" Rose asked into her earpiece.

"Roger."

"Yeah!"

"Oui."

"Ready!"

"Okay guys, remember the plan. Soldier and Demoman, do your thing," Rose instructed.

"Heh, it's a good thing you had spare earpieces, right Rose?" Wheatly said.

"Yeah, it sure is." Rose was currently sitting on a balcony with Sniper that was above the doorway to the building the group was originally in, and overlooked the walkway that Rose was hoping Merasmus was going to appear on. Miss Pauling, Scout, and Spy were behind some walls on a platform that was to the left of the walkway and Medic, Heavy, Engineer, and Pyro were on the other side all of them hiding behind the walls that lined the platforms.

"Alright Soldier and Demoman, go ahead. Just like we talked about," Miss Pauling said.

"Yes ma'am!" Solider exclaimed.

"Aye! We got this!" Demoman chimed. "Merasmus! Eye for an eye, wizard-man! I'll chew the eyeballs right out of yer skull!"

"Son, you are a disgrace to the afterlife! You do not deserve to wear that magic dress!" Soldier yelled after.

"Nnnnngh! SOLDIER! YOU WERE THE WORST ROOMMATE EVER! **AND FOR THE LAST TIME THIS ISN'T A DRESS!** ' Merasmus screamed as he showed up right in front of the two mercs.

Soldier and Demo brought up their weapons, but before they could get a shot off Merasmus brought up his staff and shout out a spell, " _Basbus Brontu!"_

Suddenly another green ball of energy formed from his staff and aimed straight for the two mercs on the walkway. Soldier and Demoman braced themselves for the blast, but before it could hit them Rose threw her one of her blades down at the right time that it hit the ball of energy; that energy, along with the energy from her blade caused a premature explosion that went off before it hit the two down below.

"Guys! Now!" Rose shouted as she pulled back the chain attached to her blade and jumped down from the high platform they were on. The others came out of their cover and opened fire on the wizard.

When Rose landed, she was about to make a mad dash for the wizard with her blades out, but the Bombinomicon appeared in front of her and clocked her path. "Whoa! Hey...there, buddy..." Rose said.

"Ey you and me, buddy! We're gonna blow that wizard up!" the book exclaimed.

"Wait, wait, please don't -" Rose began to protest.

"Pow! Bomb head! Off I go!" he said in a puff of smoke. Rose wiped the smoke from her face only to realize that the Bombinomicon chose her to have a bomb for a head.

"OH MY GOD WHY IS MY HEAD AN EXPLOSIVE?!" she screamed.

"Rose, head for the wizard!" Engineer instructed through the earpiece.

"HAHA VERY FUNNY! HOW CAN I EVEN HEAR YOU!? WHERE'S THE GOD DAMN WIZARD?!"

"He's straight ahead, Rose! Just run straight!" Pauling shouted.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Rose shouted as she ran forward, pushing Demoman and Soldier out of the way. Once she was close enough, she jumped towards Merasmus as he was being shot at and then there was a giant explosion.

As predicted, the explosion stunned the wizard and knocked him back to a normal form instead of a spectral form somehow but it also threw Rose backwards towards the building. She flew back so hard that once she hit the wall next to the door, the force knocked the wind out of her. "Medic..." she managed to utter with the remaining breath she had, then she fell straight to the floor below. "Ow..."

Medic noticed her hitting the wall and immediately ran to help her out. "Guys, give it your all! Don't hold back!" Miss Pauling said. All the mercs laid waste to Merasmus who was currently dazed by the magical explosion.

Medic made it to Rose, who was still laying on the ground, and he leaned near her and turned on his medi-gun to heal her. "It's alright, Rose. I'm here now."

"I...hate, that bomb book," she huffed as the rays from the gun healed her. "My head hurts...so bad...Wheatly? Are you okay?"

"Ugh...just, just a bit stirred...but, still here. Surprisingly," he said.

"Nnnnnghah! That's enough!" Merasmus shouted. "No! This cannot be the end! Must hide."

Merasmus then disappeared as the area was littered with random objects that appeared out of no where. Rose looked up and noticed that he had ran away to hide a heal and knew that they had to find him quickly before he came to full strength. She tried getting up, but then her body objected to the movement and she fell back down to the floor.

"Oh no, don't move, fraülein. Your body isn't fully healed yet, and you can barely stand. That blast did more internal damage than you realize," Medic warned as she groaned from the pain.

"Ugh, fine," she whined into the floorboards. "Guys, hurry and find him please...this jerk needs to get his ass kicked."

"Ass kicking search in progress, ma'am!" Soldier said as he rocket jumped to the platform that Engineer and the others were on. "C'mon men, you hear the lady! Move it maggots!"

"Mmmph hmph mmmmhm!" Pyro mumbled this as he followed Soldier, setting any props he found on fire.

As the others began the search, Rose could feel her body going back to normal and the pain lifting as she slowly began to sit up. "Medic, how much longer 'till I'm good to go? I have a bit of pent up anger that needs to be directed towards someone right now."

"Just a few more minutes and zhen you vill be good to go," he said, still kneeling next to her. All she could hear were the others shooting at random objects, until she heard the wizard shout in pain as Sniper was the one who found out Merasmus' hiding spot further away from the walkway next to a sign. He was disguised as a palm tree.

"Hahaha! There's that bloody menace lads!" Sniper chuckled. Rose and Medic turned their attention to the spectral magician as he tried to get an arrow from Sniper's Huntsman bow out of his rear end.

"There's that ass-hat..." Rose grunted as she tried getting up.

"Rose no, you're in no condition to fight right now, let Medic finish healing you first," Wheatly objected. Rose plopped back down to the ground.

"Eh fine. But now that he's out of hiding, isn't that bomb book gonna look for a new person to turn into, well a bomb?" Rose asked.

Before Medic could respond, as if by request, the Bombinomicon poofed right in front of the two of them. "Ey, it's me! The Bombinomicon! Here -"

"No," Rose held up her hand.

"Eh, what?" the book asked, seeming a little taken off guard.

"You turn either one of our heads into a freakin' bomb, and I will personally take it upon myself to tear each of your pages out one by one, and burn them with the very fires of hell," Rose threatened.

There was a long silence before anyone spoke up, Medic and the book looking at Rose, but her glare not moving from the book. "Ey okay! Hey, you with the flamethrower! Your head's a bomb now. Congratulations!"

"Vell, zhat vent vell I zhink," Medic teased as he got up. "On zhe bright side, you should be good to go now."

"Thanks, doc," Rose nodded at the German as he helped her up. "And yeah, that did go well. Care to join me in taking that jerk of a wizard down?"

"I vould love to," Medic said with a bow.

As Rose and Medic made their way to Merasmus to get in close, the others were laying down a multitude of fire as Pyro also made his way to the wizard before the fuse on top of his head went out. "Medic, you're gonna wanna head to Pyro soon. He's going to need some healing," Rose instructed.

The German looked at the little light bug heading to the wizard, then turned back to Rose and gave a nod as he redirected his course towards his teammate. Rose continued onward to her target. She ran to the end of the walkway and stopped at the edge and went through a mental image of what she was going to do next; once Merasmus was stunned, she wouldn't have much time to do some damage. She looked above her and saw that the towers on both sides of the walkway and noticed that they were climbable, and decided to climb the one closest to Merasmus so she could get a better angle on him; with everything else going on, a surprise attack from above would be a good attack.

She twirls her right blade and throws it near the top of the tower, yanking it slightly back down until it catches on to something. She tugs on it harder to make sure its secure and begins to climb the tower. "Ugh, I wish I wasn't in this constricting costume," she groans as she climbs.

"Well maybe you should have picked a better costume. There was always the ghost costume," Wheatly teased.

"Well I wasn't expecting to fight a ghostly wizard that hated these guys and wanted their souls, now did I?" she remarked.

"I...um, huh, fair enough," the AI said. "Anyways, you'd better hurry and get into position, he'll be snapping back into reality any minute."

"Gee, thanks for the heads up," Rose teased back, almost reaching the point where her sword was dug in.

"Hahaha, just be careful. I don't think you've been knocked around this much in a while," Wheatly said.

"Don't worry, if I time this right, this will be over in no time, and we can all go home."

Rose reached the vantage point, unwedged the sword, and looked down to see Merasmus regaining awareness again. Before he could do anything else, Rose carefully positioned herself and leapt off the tower and as she fell she steadied her left blade to be able to dig in into Merasmus' left shoulder. Much to her surprise, she was able to pull off the attack with ease and was able to plant her blade accordingly. The wizard gave out a howling scream as she jumped to the ground, but not before she activated the electrical current on the blade.

"That was for ruining out party..." Rose began to state as she yanked on the chain of her blades.

"NO! Wh-what are you doing!?" Merasmus shouted. "Merasmus will not be bested like this!"

Rose ignored his pleas and yanked him down again, this time harder. With the electricity surging through the sword, Merasmus couldn't focus on a spell to get him out of his current situation. Rose began twirling her right sword, and once Merasmus was close enough, she threw her other blade in his other shoulder and the electricity from the second blade caused him to scream out in pain again.

"And that is for your freakin book turning my head into a bomb! Soldier! Take the shot!" Rose instructed.

"Hah! You screwed up now, Merasmus!" Soldier shouted as he came in to clear firing range and started a massive barrage of rockets from his rocket launcher.

"You haven't heard the last of Merasmus the Magician!" he shouted as as the rockets hit him dead on. In a massive explosion of bright lights, the smoke died down and Rose's swords fell straight to the ground.

Rose looked around for the wizard, or anything from the explosion, but it had seemed he had just disappeared. "Nhg where the hell did he go?" Rose grunted.

The mercenaries looked around, but did not see any trace of the wizard or his book. Not even any of the props from earlier showed up. The group gathered around Rose as they continued to look around. "Did...did we beat him?" Miss Pauling asked.

"I do believe he is gone..." Spy mentioned.

"Then why aren't we going ba-" Rose began, but before she could finish, there was a bright green light that flashed all around them. When the light show finally died down, Rose let her eyes adjust to the darkness that surrounded them and realized that they were back in front of the building that they were having their party in. She looked around and the glowing green portals weren't there anymore and the Russian mafia was gone as well.

"Huh, I guess we did beat him," Rose said. She shielded her swords and looked to the others. "Um, so, is that it?"

"Heh, I guess it is," Engineer answered.

"Good. I don't think I want to relive my head getting turned into a bomb again," she stated with a sigh.

"Oh come now, Pyro didn't seemed to be bothered by it," Spy said with a smirk. Rose looked at Pyro who was glaring down Spy.

"Heh, right..." she scoffed. "Well, what now?"

"Hmm, there's still some food in the building that we could eat up," Miss Pauling spoke up. "Plus we still have a game to finish."

"I will sit out of this one," Heavy grunted as he made his way back inside.

"No on touch my amulet!" Soldier shouted.

"No one's gonna take your stupid amulet, Soldier," Scout scoffed.

The group continued to walk back into the building, while Rose sat back and watched the group. Medic noticed that she was staying behind and decided to join her. "Something on your mind, Rose?" he asked

"Hmm? Oh no, just thinking about all the crazy stuff that happened….that happen to you guys often?" she asked.

"Heh, more often zhen I'd like to admit. One zhing is certain, however, it is never boring around here."

"Hm. I like that," Rose said with a soft smile.

The two then went to sit on the porch and watched the full moon slowly crawl across the night sky.


	22. Disheartening

The Tenth Class

Chapter 22: Disheartened

"Oh man, that shower was exactly what I needed," Rose sighed with relief as she stepped out of the shower in the empty bathroom.

"Well I would hope it was, you were positively filthy after that tussle Soldier out in the woods," her AI companion stated. "I don't even remember who started that argument, or what it was even about for you two to break out into a wrestling brawl."

Earlier that day Rose asked one of the mercs in the recreation room to go on a short walk around the compound to sweep the area for any signs of intruders since Miss Pauling had come up to her earlier that day with information that Gray Mann may had sent more Spy-bots to the facility. The first one to volunteer was Soldier, and when Rose asked for any other takers, the others either look uninterested or shook their heads, saying they'll join on the next one. With a short sigh, Rose smiled and told Soldier to go grab his shotgun and to meet her in the garage in five minutes.

Once the two were ready, they set out into the surrounding forest to do a security sweep. The first few minutes were nothing but Rose and Soldier walking in silence, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary, but the silence was broken when Soldier let out a groan.

"Nggghhh," he moaned.

Rose broke her concentration and glanced over to her teammate, and when he didn't say anything, she turned her attention back to the ridge-line. "Wheatly, scanners pick up anything? Any magnetic pulses resembling the same as the bots?" she asked after a few seconds.

"Nothing yet, Rose. But I will alert you as soon as something shows up," he informed

"Okay, thank you," she thanked. Soldier just looked at her, and they continued to walk in silence.

Soldier let out another groan after another moment of silence. Rose looked at him, and as soon as she did he looked straight ahead, pretending like nothing was wrong. "Um, something wrong there, Soldier?" she asked.

"Hmmm, no..." he said with a sigh.

"You sure?" she asked.

He looked over at her, then looked around, then looked back. "I have a suspension that there are not any robots out here."

"You mean suspicion?" she corrected.

"That's what I said."

"Right, well, this is just a security sweep, so there might not actually be any enemies. Pauling just wants us to look into a possible breach in the area," Rose explained.

"Nnnggghh..." Soldier groaned even more.

"I know, I know, you want to kick some robot ass, but like I said, there might not even be anything out there," Rose said.

This seemed to have eased Soldier a bit, but after they had made it about half way around the facility he began to groan again. Rose gave a light sigh as they walked and just put her hand up on the hilt of her right sword, Soldier noticed and gave a bit of a scoff.

"Hm? What was that for?" Rose asked feeling a ping of irritation rise up in her throat.

"Heh, you call those butter knives weapons?" he scoffed.

Rose paused. "Oh dear," Wheatly murmured.

"I don't even know how you can kill anything with those kiddie toys," Soldier continued. "Now this…" he holds up his shotgun, "This is a weapon."

Rose glared at him, then took a moment to think that he was just saying this because he's bored and looking for a fight. "Well, I'm glad you like your gun, but I like my swords and prefer them in a fight if I can use them," Rose explained. She continued walking, and Soldier followed behind.

"Psh, those things couldn't even bring down that hippie wizard," Soldier went on.

"Heh, hehehe, yeah….hey! I'm going to look around this bush real quick," Rose stated. "You just stay here, and uh, keep watch for me."

"Eh, okay," Soldier groaned.

"Rose, what are you doing?" Wheatly asked quietly.

"Shhh. Just...leave it be," Rose warned.

Soldier stood next to the bush for a quiet moment, and as he turned his attention away, Rose jetted out of the bushes and tackled him to the ground. "YOU THINK MY SWORDS ARE DUMB YOU JERK?!" she shouted as they fell to the ground.

"Rose for the love of God! What are you doing?!" Wheatly shouted.

Soldier hit the ground with a thud and Rose fell on top, but she quickly recovered herself and rolled off to his left side, getting back up and grabbing her right sword from it's holster, it connected to a chain dispenser on her lower back so she didn't have to continuously carry a loose chain around. She then immediately threw her sword to the right of Soldier's head and whipped the chain, causing it to smack him in the face. A little disgruntled but happy for some excitement, Soldier grabbed the chain and yanked it towards him causing Rose to be jerked forwards. Knowing that he would do something like that, she loosened her grip on her chain as to not fall back down, but he had pulled her forwards enough to be able to kick her straight in the stomach.

"Oof!' she grunted and stumbled a bit backwards, trying to catch her breath. Soldier took the moment to get back on his feet and grabbed his shotgun that had fallen out of his hands. When he turned around Rose's right fist made contact with his nose which in turn made Soldier lose his balance again as Rose did a leg sweep and had Soldier fall to the ground once more, his shotgun getting knocked out of his hands once more. Rose quickly pulled her sword back and holstered it, thinking that she's made a point and as she turns her attention back to Soldier she sees him charging for her.

"Oh shit wait!" Rose held up her hands, but it was too late. Soldier tackled her as hard as he could, knocking the wind right out of her, and the two had so much momentum that they began to tumble down a hill that dipped down into the clearing of the compound. Soldier didn't loosen his grip on Rose as they fell and his helmet flew off his head as they continued to fall. Rose wasn't sure if she had hit her head on anything on the way down, but when they finally stopped tumbling Rose could feel a small bump on the side of her head forming. She opened her eyes and she was staring straight at the sky, and after a few seconds of blinking and making sure things were still working, she slowly sat up and began to scan the ground for Soldier. To her relief, he was only about a foot or two to her left laying face down.

"Ngh, Soldier? You okay man?" Rose said as she scooted over to him.

The old war dog gave a low groan which turned into a slow chuckle. "Hahaha! That was much more exciting!"

Rose gave a sigh, "Seriously?"

"Rose, are you okay? You two tumbled for quite some time," Wheatly asked.

"Yeah, yeah I think so," she responded. "Is there anything I should worry about?"

"Well, no that I can tell, thankfully. You might have a few scrapes and bruises, but nothing major. As for him..." Rose looked over her teammate, who was slowly getting up.

She decided to do the same and slowly began to stand up, and dusted herself off. "I feel like I bumped my head, man. Are you sure there's nothing wrong?"

"Hmm, no. I don't see anything on my scans," the AI reassured her.

"Huh, well I'll double check with Medic after I take a shower," she said, dusting herself off. "Okay tough guy, let's go. I think our patrol is done."

As she picked him up he began to mumble something about unicorns, but she decided it was probably best not to ask what in the world he was saying. She pulled him up by his left arm and helped him to his feet.

"Okay Soldier, go check in with Medic once you find your helmet. I'm going to talk to Pauling and take a shower," she instructed.

"Yes madame President!" he said with a salute.

"Um...okay. Yeah," Rose said as she just turned around and left.

Now that she was fully dressed and began to make her way to the medical bay to put her dirty clothes in her new hamper and find Medic so he could check for any possible head injuries Her head still gave off a slight throbbing on her right side, but aside from that she seemed fine.

"Yeah, now I remember what we were fighting about," she finally said.

"Oh, that's right. He made fun of your using blades, ha!" Wheatly chuckled.

"Heh, yeah...I'm pretty sure he was just doing that because he was bored though. He was just getting restless, and he probably knew I'd retaliate if he picked on me," Rose thought out loud.

"Is that so? Well maybe he's more adept at psychological warfare than we thought." Rose paused and had to think about what her friend just said. Then they both broke out in laughter.

"Hahaha, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves, now. I'd be lying if I didn't say that I kinda played up that fight because I was getting slightly bored myself," the freelancer admitted.

"Then that makes a total of three of us. I was hoping you two would pick a fight."

"Well let's hope that Pauling won't get too huffy about the lack of patrolling that happened," Rose said as she approached the doors leading into the medical bay.

"Oh I'm sure she is just furious about the whole situation, and is ready to hang you up by your big toes from the rafters!" the AI teased.

"Oh yeah, totally." Rose looked to see that Medic was deep in thought in some more paperwork, rubbing his temples out of minor frustration. The whole group had been a bit bored since Halloween night a few weeks ago, and even with the VR room, they were all getting a bit restless. "Heya Medic! Everything okay?" Rose asked walking up to the desk.

The German looked up and a wave of relief washed over his face, and he gave a bright smile. "Schönen tag, Rose! As always, it's a pleasure to see you!" he greeted.

"Heh, same to you Medic. Hey I have a favor, Soldier and I got into a tussle -" she began.

"Ah yes, he came in earlier mumbling something about unicorns. He had hit his head pretty hard from what I could tell. Did you as vell, I assume?" he asked, standing up from his desk.

"Eh, I don't think so. The right side of my head feels like I might have hit something, but Wheatly says that I don't have any abrasions or anything bad. I think it's just a slight bruise, but I wanted a second opinion."

"Hmph, can't take the word of the AI living in your spinal column, eh? I see how it is..." Wheatly whined.

"Oh yes, the tiny voice in my head. Yeah doc, I think I need to be looked at. This voice gets annoying the way it keeps whining about things," Rose retorted sarcastically.

Medic gave a light chuckle, "Okay, vell aside from actual brain surgery, there's not much I can do about the nagging sensation, but I can certainly take a look at the spot you said was hurting." He motioned for her to sit down on his surgical table so he could take a look, and she went ahead and sat.

"Oh ho, double teaming are we? I don't think I like how unfair this playing field just became," Wheatly went on.

"See, there it is again Medic! I just don't know what to do," she said, ignoring the AI's complaining.

"Okay, okay, I give, you win this one, Rose," he surrendered.

"Thank you."

"If you two are done, can you show me where it hurts, fraülein?" Medic asked.

Rose gently put three fingers to the right side of her head, just behind her ear and gave a slight wince at the pain. Medic pulled her hand away and went in for a closer look and at one point pushed a little too hard at the area and she winced even more. He quickly pulled his hand away, not wanting to cause more harm, and then began to look again. "Ah it's just a bruise. You'll be just fine," he reassured her.

"Awesome, thought so," she said with relief.

"But I will give you some healing to get rid of any other pain and to clear up zhose scrapes and bruises," he said, bringing down his medi-gun that was hanging just at the foot of the surgical bed. After a few seconds of sitting in front of the beam, Rose began to feel more rejuvenated then when she walked out of the shower earlier. Once he was done, Medic put the gun back where he originally had it, and held out a hand to help Rose off of the bed, which she took and stood up.

"Ahh, that is so much better, thanks Medic," she thanked as she stood up.

"Oh it's nothing. Just doing my job," he said modestly. "Oh I did vant to ask you, how would you feel about having a mega baboon heart in your chest, by chance?"

Rose looked at him with the straightest face in silence, unsure of how to process an answer to his question. After a moment or two of complete silence, Rose opened her mouth to give him an answer but the intercom to the medical bay spoke up with Miss Pauling's voice.

"Attention everyone, I need you guys to meet in the conference room immediately. Gray is on the move again and we need to discuss battle strategies ASAP," she instructed.

Rose and Medic looked at one another and without a word, they both darted out of the medical bay to go meet up with the rest of the team in the conference room a level below.

After about thirteen minutes of waiting, everyone was gathered in the conference room along the table that sat in the center. It was the same room that she had first entered when she went the very first mission briefing months back, and a sense of nostalgia washed over when she first entered the room. Rose thought about all of the adventures she's had with the group so far as her and Medic sat next to Miss Pauling as she began to bring up their next mission.

"Alright guys, this time Gray Mann is targeting something a little further away. It's a place that hits close to home for one of you as well," the assistant began. Rose snapped back to reality when she spoke up and a concerned look came across her face. "Gray is sending bots to a small town called Rottenburg. In Germany."

Rose could feel Medic tense up next to her. She looked at him and saw that he had his head down and eyes closed and his arms crossed across his chest. Rose began to slightly lift her hand and place it on his shoulder, but then put it back down deciding against it.

"What? Is America too good for him?!" Soldier was a bit outraged. "This is the land of fighting and that commie coward is going to attack that little run-down, poorly built -"

"Soldier, please," Pauling interrupted. Rose could tell that Medic was getting upset, and more tense.

"What? It's true. That coward of an old man attacking a place like that dump? Ha! They deserve each other!" Soldier shouted.

Before anyone could respond, Medic sat straight up and slammed his right fist down on the table. Everyone froze, except Rose, who gently put her hand on his shoulder, refusing to take her eyes off him for a second. She could feel the tension in his body start to slowly lighten up, and after a few seconds he opened his eyes and looked straight back at Rose. His face was stern, but his eyes told her that he was concerned. Feeling the need to comfort her friend, she smiled lightly and gave a confident nod to him, which helped him to loosen up even more. She then turned to Miss Pauling and gave a nod for her to continue.

"Ahem, anyways, we have an advantage. We were able to get this information in just enough time that if you go now, you guys can set up accordingly and have good defenses set in place for when they arrive," she explained.

"Do we have a battle plan?" Rose asked.

"No. But that's where you come in. I have all the papers here that you can go over on your way there and once you come up with something, you guys can put it together when you arrive," Miss Pauling went on, sliding over a manilla folder that was only slightly full.

"Wait, we're not going to go over it here?" the freelancer asked.

"We don't have the time. I know that you would agree that this is the best course of action with what little time we have here, and I know you will come up with a good defensive plan. Now all of you gather what you will need. Your flight leaves in a little over two hours and you guys need to be out of here in half an hour."

Without another word, the group got up out of their seats and made their way out of the room and to theirs to gather their equipment. Rose, Medic and Engineer made their way up to the top floor in silence, and when they were coming up to Engineer's door he gave a nudge to Rose who looked at him. He nodded his head over to Medic, who was walking in front of them just slightly. Rose got the message and left Engineer to walk next to the German as they entered the medical bay together. As Rose continued to their room, she noticed that Medic stopped when they entered the room, and she turned to face him.

"Hey, Soldier always stupid things..." she began as she walked towards him.

"Ehhh, I know," he sighed.

"And we'll kick Gray 's robots right out of your home town," she reassured him. She approached him and put her hand on his arm and smiled.

He looked up to see her and saw the confidence in her eyes. He smiled lightly, the tension around him clearing up when Archimedes flew down in between them and landed on Rose's arm.

"Heh, he seems to really like you," Medic finally spoke up.

Rose brought her arm away slowly, with the dove still on it lightly cooing, "Yeah, I guess he does." Rose brought her arm over her head and let the bird fly away to the ceiling above. "Alright well, we outta get going," she said making her way to their room. "I'll get my things together. Remember, Pauling wants us out of here as soon as possible."

"Right. Of course, let's get to it," he agreed, making his way to his desk.

* * *

It took about the amount of time that Miss Pauling had said for the group to make it to the small airfield, and a little longer to find the gate for them to go through and head to the plane that she had set aside for them to get on so they wouldn't have to go through normal airport security. Rose found it very convenient that they were able to get a plane all their own to travel with, no matter how much a junker it looked like.

"Eh, ya sure the miss got us ta right plane?" Demo said, looking over the plane they were currently boarding in the empty hangar.

"Of course! Why would Miss Pauling try and gip us on our way to a mission?" Scout reassured the Scottsman.

The plane itself was just smaller than a normal small commercial plane, but the wings looked like they were hastily welded on and the nose of the plane looked as if it had hit the ground one too many times. It had an undertone of sky-blue color to it that had been mostly scrapped away. They windows all around were a bit dingy, and the pilot seemed to have been living in the giant sky-trap for a while now. He was currently leaning up against the front landing gear, snoring as Rose walked up and pulled her pack off of her back, dropping it on the floor. The sudden noise echoing through the empty hangar woke him to a startled stare.

"Whoa whoa, I swear officers, I didn't steal this plane!" he shouted as he woke. Rose just stared at him, waiting for the reality to sink in around him. After a minute or two of just staring into the distance, he suddenly notice Rose standing there to his right, arms crossed and a stern look to his face. "Oh ah, heheh, hello there ma'am! S-sorry about the, uh, mess...heh, uh yer the one that the, uh, lady on the phone called about, yeah?" he asked.

Rose nodded. She could smell the faint musk of alcohol around him, and he looked like he hadn't showered in maybe three days. "Yes. We are the ones that need the flight to Germany. Are you, um, are you good to fly today?" she asked, slightly annoyed.

"Huh? Oh yeah, yeah! Psh I'm fine! I'm totally fiiine..." he said with a wave of his hand. A sudden stench wafted through the air and smacked Rose right in the face. She had to force herself to not gag.

"Okay, well, we're gonna start loading in. We need to be in the air ASAP. We are kind of on a strict schedule," she said as she picked up her pack from the ground and slung it behind her and began to walk towards the others.

"Heh, y-you got it miss! I'll get the engine started!" he shouted behind her and ducked underneath the plane.

"Why couldn't we have had a nicer plane, and a pilot that didn't look like a hobo?" Wheatly spoke up, popping up in front of her.

"Hey, be nice. The guy has probably had a run of bad luck. Anyways, you know how the Administrator doesn't care about these guys, the probably didn't want to shell out the money for a decent ride to a place that we're defending our lives over," Rose suggested. "Or, in order to not draw attention to ourselves, this was probably the best thing to go in. Or both."

"Yeah, the old woman seems to give mixed signals that way, doesn't she?" he said, putting his hand up to his chin, pretending to think.

"She's doing it on purpose so that way no one can guess what her thought process is," Rose mentioned.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Wheatly said with a sigh. "So should we go over the plans?"

"We'll wait 'till we're in the air, then I'll go over some options and talk to others about them," she said.

By this time, Rose had made her way back to the rest of the guys who were standing behind the plane, looking it over cautiously. She gave a wave to the mercs to let them know to start loading up their things in the small compartments on the bottom of the plane. She let them do their thing as she made her way onto the vessel and found a seat next to a window at the back of the plane.

"Frankly, I'm surprised you're getting on another plane," Wheatly mentioned.

"Hm? Why do you say that?" Rose asked, pulling her pack onto her lap.

"Well, I mean after being blown up out of the sky last time, I wouldn't want to get back on another plane for a good long while."

"I mean, yeah I'm a bit nervous, but it's mostly about this plane actually making the trip there. Being blown up is maybe the worst case scenario, but at the same time it's entirely possible. Huh..." she trailed off.

"What's wrong?" Wheatly asked.

"We never looked into why we were shout out of the sky," Rose remembered.

"Um, well we have been a bit busy as of late, Rose. I mean, just a few weeks ago you were fighting a ghost wizard that had a book that could turn your head into a bomb. I'm pretty sure learning who or what blew us out of the sky was," he reminded her.

"Oh yeah, that freakin' night was epic though. But still," Rose said, waving her hands. "We've been almost all over that area and haven't seen any type of anti-air weapons. Not to mention, we weren't even close enough to the compound to give any reason to be shot down."

Rose pulled out the folder Miss Pauling had given her earlier that day to look over. Suddenly, she heard the sputter and coughing of an engine come to life, shaking the whole plane as the pilot was able to get the thing started. She was relieved to hear the plane be able to start up, but then the nervousness came back; there was still the flight over the entire ocean they had to survive. Rose pushed the thought aside as she began looking at the documents and pictures that resided in the folder.

The first picture she saw was a photo of a lot of old fashioned buildings, as if she was looking at something from a fairytale village. It looked like it was a main street that went around some of the houses, and Rose thought that it could possibly be a path that the robots could take. _'Wait, what's the main goal here? Where's the bomb drop off?'_ she thought to herself. The looked over the other photos and found one where there was what looked the town square; there. That's where they were going to head, but as Rose continued to look at the pathways leading up to it, she was pleased to find out that it was basically one main path to the square with one split in the roads at the beginning where Miss Pauling had circled the bots were deploying from.

"Have you come up vith a plan?" Rose looked up from her papers to see Medic coming up the center. He came up and sat down right next her.

"Hmm, not yet, but I am getting some ideas. From what Pauling thinks, the bots are deploying from outside of the town from the southeast..." she pointed to a bird's eye view of the whole village. "Right here in this area with the rocks and grass. She thinks that their main goal is all the way back here, in the town square." She traced her index finger through the streets and landed it on the square area near the back of the village.

"I see," he said. Rose looked over to him to see him studying the photo of the whole village. She could see that he was remembering things as his facial expressions went from worried to a bit of happiness.

"What happened?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"Hm?"

"I mean, what happened for you to leave?"

"Oh, zhat. Heh, vell I vas run out my village. Apparently zhey didn't like it when I swapped some of zheir hearts vith mega-baboon hearts," he shrugged.

Rose stared at him for a brief second. "Well, that certainly wasn't what I was expecting to hear," she stated bluntly.

"And vhat exactly vere you expecting?" he asked with a smile.

"Well...I...I don't know, just not that."

"Heh, are you surprised?"

"I, uh...no. Heh, no not really," she sighed. "What do you think they'll do once they've seen that you came back? And with nine other people who are going to try and defend their town from a massive onslaught of robots built by a man who is probably over 100 years old?"

"Mmmm, probably nothing. I don't even know if anyone is still zhere, it's been so long," he said.

"Well why in the world is Gray attacking there then?" Rose asked, not particularly to Medic, however.

"I vish I could tell you, fraülein."

Rose went to skim over the photos again, resuming her thoughts about defending the town as Medic leaned back in his chair next to her. For a few moments the two sat in silence when Medic spoke up again, breaking Rose's concentration.

"Er, Rose? You never answered my question before Miss Pauling called the meeting," he sat up.

"Hm?" Rose mumbled, only half paying attention.

"About having a mega-baboon heart? I was zhinking zhe other day about how you don't have one vith an über-charge meter on it to help in case you need to be charged," he went on.

"Wait, oh yeah, you told me the others have one. And that it helps to keep their hearts from exploding or something because the powered charge from the beam was too great for any normal human heart," she said, remembering back to when Medic first showed her his medi-gun.

"Zhat's right. I was hoping to get an answer from you before we went on our next mission but -"

"Heeey! What are you two up to all alone in here?" Medic was cut short by Scout announcing his presence.

"Oh hey Scout. We were just going over some plans of attack for the mission and stuff. Wanna join?" Rose asked.

"Psh, nah. That smartsy stuff is for you guys. I play it cool and just do what I want when I'm in a fight," the young merc scoffed as he took the front seat near the door of the plane.

"Riiight. That's why I was able to beat you in that VR training session the first time?" she began to tease.

"Hey! You just got lucky, miss! I went easy on ya!" Scout got defensive.

"Uh huh, sure. If that's what you have to tell yourself to help you sleep better at night..." Rose continued to tease. "Anyways, are you guys finished with loading up?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, Heavy and Soldier are putting the last of it in now, and the others are on their way," Scout answered.

"Good. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can get back and get this over with," Rose sighed.

It had been a good long while since she was overseas for anything, and she was already ready to come back. She didn't like being away from home from too long, no matter where that home was.

* * *

It was a quiet flight. Most of the mercs were asleep on the plane as it flew over the Atlantic ocean, all except for Rose, Medic, and Spy. Rose was still going over the papers and plans she had come up with, going through different scenarios and running probabilities with Wheatly as quietly as possible as to let the others sleep. Medic was still sitting next to her, but he was going over his own paper work and keeping to himself. Rose was glad that he wasn't so tense about the situation as he was earlier that day, and was just letting him do his thing, not pestering him about the files he was going through. Spy was on the other side of the plane in one of the seats across the aisle from them, reading one of his Dapper Cadaver magazines as he took sips from a glass that Rose could assume was some sort of scotch. How he was able to sneak that with him was a mystery to her, but of course the man himself was a bit of a mystery.

They were in the air for probably a good five or six hours and the sun had already set as they flew over the dark ocean. Rose took a moment to look away from her papers and plans and look outside, and even though the sun had set, the full moon and blanket of stars brightened the night sky. It was peaceful; she hadn't studied much of astrology, but Rose could make out some of the more popular constellations that were in the sky, such as the Pieces constellation. Astrology wasn't her main area of study when she was at Aperture, but she always found it fascinating, and when she knew it was nighttime above the large underground facility, she would sneak up using some of the more out-of-the-way corridors and elevators mainly used for transporting supplies or for the maintenance crews spread across the entire place. Once above, she would find a quiet spot in the fields and star gaze, enjoying the peace and quiet from the everyday humdrum of the science labs below.

Rose trying remembering her life before Aperture, to what kind of life she had before that whole mess, but couldn't seem to bring any memories to surface. She frowned; how come she couldn't remember her old life before Aperture? The earliest memory she had was when she was first brought on to their R&D team, and shaking hands with owner of the company, Cave Johnson. Something wasn't right. Now that she thought about it, there really wasn't anything else that she could remember after that moment either. Not until she came up with the idea to make Wheatly, but after that all of her memories were normal. _'Hm, I'll have to run some tests when we get back from this mission. Might have something to do with the neuro-adaptor, and possibly Wheatly being in my head,'_ she speculated.

Suddnely, she felt a slight nudge on her left arm, and she turned her head to see Medic looking at her with a semi-worried expression. "Everything all right, Rose?" he whispered.

"Yeah, yeah...just thinking about stuff," she said, turning her head back to the window.

"Maybe you should rest for a bit. You have been up studying zhose papers for hours now," he suggested.

"I agree. Rose, you should probably get some sleep. Unless you want to mess up your own plans with fumbling on the battlefield due to lack of sleep, but it's entirely up to you," Wheatly said softly but sarcastically.

"Heh, okay okay, I'm too tired to take on the both of you," Rose chuckled lightly, raising her hands in surrender. "I could use a bit of shut eye anyways."

"Good to her, fraülein," Medic said. "Here I zhink I'll do zhe same." Medic closed his folder as well. They both put their folders away, Rose putting hers in her pack that she had sitting under her seat, Medic putting it with his belongings that sat next to his seat.

"I think I'll just star gaze until I doze off, though," Rose said after she put her papers away.

"Well I guess. I mean, at least you're not staring at the sun and blinding yourself. That would be pretty bad to wake up to, if you think about it," the AI mentioned.

"Yes. Yes it would. Now hush, before you wake everyone else up," Rose warned.

"Oh ho, yes ma'am!"

Rose looked at Medic, who let out a soft chuckle. Spy looked over to the two, and they looked back. He raised and eyebrow and Rose looked at him straight in the eyes as Medic looked at both of them as the stare down commenced. After a few seconds of just staring, Rose stuck her tongue out, causing Spy to blink and let out a snicker and he went back to reading his magazine. She went back to looking out the window and Medic leaned back in his seat as he began to doze off. Rose just continued to stare at the stars, and enjoyed how calming the full moon was, and after a few more moments of gazing out of her window, her eyelids grew heavier and she finally leaned back and fell asleep, letting the constant hum of the plane engine lull her into sleep.

* * *

Rose felt a slight nudge as she slowly began to wake. She fluttered her eyelids open as she was looking out of the window. The sky was still dark, meaning it wasn't fully morning but there was a faint glow of light coming from the horizon. Rose began to move slightly when the plane shook a bit from the turbulence and she began to wake up more. She turned her head to see that she was leaning up against Medic, who apparently was still out cold with his head leaned back and snoring, so she slowly sat up trying not to wake him up. She looked around and saw that mostly everyone was awake with the exception of Demoman, Medic, Scout, and Soldier. She leaned forward to Engineer, who was sitting in the seat in front of her and tapped him on the shoulder.

Engineer turned his head and looked over his shoulder to see her put an index finger to her lips and nod over to Medic. He smiled and nodded. "How much longer do we have until we get to the nearest airport?" she whispered over to him.

"Well, we already stopped at one to gas up after we got over the ocean. We're gettin' close to our final destination, probably just about an hour or two more. And then after that is a bus from the airport to the village," Engineer answered in hushed tones.

"Oh wow, already? Nice! Well I guess I'll wake up Medic and we'll get our things together," Rose said as she sat back. "Oh, but I should make some finishing touches on the plans before we land."

"Oh we still have a bus ride before we get there miss. Plus, I know the doc there wanted to go over something with ya before we got there," the Texan whispered. Medic shuffled in his seat a bit and the two froze, looking at him.

After a moment of nothing but more sleeping, Rose turned back to Engineer. "What did he want to talk about? And when did he say this?"

"Oh when we were gassing up at our last stop. Everyone got out to stretch, but you had already been leanin' on him that he didn't want to move," he explained. "I was the first one back on to check on y'all and he was startin' to doze off again and told me to let ya know once you were up."

"Huh, sweet. Well I look forward to whatever it is," Rose said, pulling the folder she had earlier out of her back.

"Yeah, he said it'll help with the mission or somethin'."

"Cool! We're going to need all the help we can get," she said, looking over the notes she had written down previously.

The rest of the plane ride was mostly quiet. Everyone slowly began to wake up, aside from Demo who was still passed out. Rose commended him for sleeping the whole way through, but then realized that this was probably normal for him. Eventually Rose had to wake Medic up so he could get his belongings together and they could all get to their bus quickly.

The plane landed in a small airport about 73 miles from their destination, and all the mercenaries gathered their supplies from the storage compartments of the plane and wasted no time in getting to their bus. Knowing it would only take about another hour or two to get to Rottenberg, Rose asked Medic what it was he wanted to talk to her about. When she mentioned it, a big grin came across his face and he told her she would have to wait until they arrived so he could show her. They all gathered on the bus and made their way to the village.

By the time they made it there, it was mid-afternoon and everyone was surprisingly rested from the flight and bus ride and were ready to get settled. Much to everyone's surprise, the village seemed to be abandoned with no one on sight, so the group made their way through the main gate. From what she remembered from the photos, Rose knew exactly where they were going to start setting up first, and walking all the way to the square gave them a better idea of the town and where to properly set up their defenses. They walked through the main gate that was set up with regular stone and concrete and they came across a divide in the road.

Looking both left and right, Rose decided to head left, remembering seeing a bridge that way and thinking that it might help give a better look around the area. She made her way in that direction and the others followed, looking around at all of the old fashioned buildings. As she predicted there was a bridge that reached over the other pathway the robots could possibly take and some more buildings on the other side. They quietly made their through and continued walking in silence.

"Hey doc, I thought you said this was your home. Where the hell is everyone?" Scout spoke up, saying what was on everyone's mind.

"Hmm, my scanners aren't picking up any sign of life aside from the local wildlife, and well us of course," Wheatly said.

"Zhey all probably left. But, zhat doesn't make much sense," Medic responded.

The group made it over the bridge and were rounding the next bend in the road. "Maybe they all got a warning to leave or be killed," Rose thought out load.

"Hm, zhat is a possibility. Zhey were always afraid of zhings zhey didn't understand, and would either chase it out of the village or run from it," the doctor explained.

"Regardless, at least we don't have anyone getting in our way of zhis fight," Spy spoke.

"Hngh," Sniper grunted in agreement.

"Right. Well, after this corner we should be coming up to the square. Once there, we'll start setting up our stuff and get down to going over the plans. Then I'll give Miss Pauling a call and we will be ready for this battle, got it?"

All of the mercenaries either nodded or spoke up in agreement. They continued their walk and after a few more minutes they finally made it to the square of the village. They put their things down and began to work on getting set up. As everyone on getting things set up, Medic was making his way on of the buildings near entrance into the square when Rose noticed him and decided to follow, hoping he would finally answer her on what he wanted to go over with her.

"Hey doc, what was it that you were going to go over with me? I figured it would be really important if you kept it off for this long," Rose said as she caught up with the German.

"Heh, very vell. I suppose you deserve to know now, since I've been just egging you on vith secrecy," he said with a smile. "Follow me."

They walked together to the building that he was originally heading for, and Medic pulled out a small key chain with a single key on it. They approached the door and he inserted the key, turning it all the way and they both heard a small creak of a lock mechanism unlocking. He then slowly opened the door and a faint musky smell hit Rose square in the face. Medic held opened the door all the way for her to enter first and she walked in slowly to the room with no lights, the doctor following right after. He closed the door and went straight to the left of the room and flipped a switch that turned on the lights; most of them flickered on and some continued to flicker, some of them not turning on at all, signifying that this place hadn't been used in quite some time. Rose scanned the room and saw a chalk board with mathematical equations and schematics for a specialized energy shield.

"Whoa...did...did this used to be your home?" Rose asked, looking around at all the scattered parts and dusty jars of what she could only assume were old experiments.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," he said going straight to the chalk board. Rose followed him. "I vas in zhe middle of something amazing when I was ran out. I do believe zhat zhis device can help us greatly in zhe upcoming battles against Gray Mann and his robots."

"I'd say so," she said, examining the board; all the science seemed sound and it seemed like it would take a few modifications to Medic's medi-gun in order to make it work. "Was this what you were working on while we were traveling here?"

"Yes. When I finally let my nerves calm down back at zhe compound, I realized zhat I still had my workshop here, and all of my old plans for zhis energy field. I do feel proud of myself for coming zhis far as a man of medicine and science, if I do say so myself."

"Well, I mean, you did put that mugger's brain in a pumpkin on Halloween. That was pretty impressive," Rose commended.

"Heh, zhat's child's play, my dear Rose," he chuckled. "I've been working on much more zhan zhat for quite some time, making medical discoveries zhat no one vould ever dare to imagine!"

"I would say so. But hey, before we get too distracted, I still need to call Pauling and let her know we made it safely. You should go get Engie and have him help you while I help the others set up. Once everything is said and done, I'll go over some of the plans I came up with on the plane, and we should be ready for this fight," Rose instructed.

"Ah, straight to zhe point as usual Rose. Hm, I admire zhat about you," Medic said as Rose turned to the doorway.

"Heh, thanks Medic, I do my best," she turned and smiled to him. "Oh and thanks for showing me around."

"Vhat? I didn't – oh ha! Yes, vell I do my best to be a good host," he said with a slight bow. Rose giggled slightly and then made her way out of the building to join the rest of the group.

Once she had called Miss Pauling to let her know that they made it safely and that they had a least a day to get everything in order for the big battle. Rose gathered all of the mercenaries to explain what the plan was when the bots arrived, going over holding points, high points for Sniper to take and defensive areas Heavy, Demo and Engineer would have to hold on to while the others ran offensive and cover. Rose, Pyro, and Soldier would be at the gate when the bots deployed and Wheatly would keep a strict eye on any Spy-bots that would possibly sneak past their defensive line in the front to take on the mercs in the back. Once she went over all the details, she and the rest of the gang got everything else set up and ready for the big fight ahead.

* * *

* HONK HONK * Rose looked up to see the antennas of the top of the robot carrier. She was currently relaxing on the bridge leading to the square that they took the first time when they first arrived. She looked behind her and nodded to Pyro and Soldier to take their positions up at the front gate. As they went to their spots, she called up the rest of the group on her earpiece.

"Okay fellas, this is it. Don't forget about the Engineer-bots, and that if you see an enemy teleporter, destroy it as soon as you can. And stay alive," she instructed.

"Heavy will destroy little baby robots!" she heard the Russian yell.

"Come and get some you hippie robot bastards!" Soldier also yelled.

Rose gave a big grin and made her way to the front gate to join Soldier and Pyro, pulling out her pistol in her right hand and a butterfly sword in her left, with chain attached. "Wheatly, I think now would be a good time to test out the fire ability on these swords. What do you think?" she asked as she made her way to the gate.

"Hm, I think now would be a perfect time to try out that feature. You have been using the electricity quite a lot anyways," he agreed.

"Then it's settled." Rose holstered her pistol and brought up her other sword and switched the circle that was currently around a symbol of a lightning bolt over the right over a symbol of a flame. She then holstered her right sword and grabbed her pistol again now that her swords were ready for the fight ahead.

She walked up to Soldier and Pyro who were currently readying themselves for the upcoming waves of robots when Wheatly spoke up. "Rose, I was able to catch a ride on their wireless signal emitting to their carrier and I can give you guys a heads up on what is coming with each wave."

"Oh great!" Rose said enthusiastically. "Wait, why didn't you do this before?!"

"Well because we've never been this close to the carrier before. Um, besides the compound, heh," he explained.

"Hmmm mmm hmmm mmmm," Pyro mumbled, lifting his flamethrower slightly.

"Ha! You said buddy!" Soldier chuckled.

"Uh, yeah, heh whatever you said Pyro," Rose said.

"Oh get ready guys! The count down is commencing. 10...9...8..." Wheatly began to count down. The three mercenaries readied their weapons. "7...6...5...4...3...2...1….Aaand here we go! First wave is...oh boy..."

"What is it?" Rose asked nervously, hearing a ton of robots marching in over the hill from the carrier.

"Well, um there's about 40 Scout-bots with metal bats, 12 Demo-bots with swords and 16 Soldier-bots, and one Super Scout-bot," the AI listed the enemies.

"Wait, what's a Super Scout-bot?" Rose asked. Before anyone could answer, however, a giant Scout-bot jumped over the ridge, carrying a bomb on it's back and a giant metal baseball bat in it's right hand. "WhoOOA NEVER MIND!"

Rose took a step back to asses how to take the giant mechanized menace down when at least twenty regular Scout-bots jumped down along with the big one, as well as about four Demo-bots and four Soldier-bots. As soon as the Soldier-bots jumped down, they each immediately fired a barraged of rockets at the three mercs.

"Pyro! Shoot the two on the right away with an air blast! I have the two on the left! Soldier, fire at will!" Rose instructed. Rose brought up her pistol and took aim at the nearest rocked to their left and fired, and much to her surprise she hit the rocket and it exploded, causing a chain explosion with other rocket. Pyro ran ahead of them and got close enough to the other two rockets to air blast them back, and they ended up hitting a few of the Scout-bots and having them explode on impact.

Soldier began his barrage on the Super Scout-bot, causing minimal damage by himself. Rose noticed and realized that more firepower was going to be needed. "Soldier focus fire on the smaller bots!" Rose instructed. Soldier begrudgingly followed her orders and began firing on the other bots. "Engineer, you guys have a Super Scout-bot heading your way. Destroy it!"

"Which way is it heading, Rose?" he asked.

"It's taking the path on the left! The same one we took when we got here!" Wheatly informed.

"Thanks fella!"

"Wheatly, any Spy-bots by the way?" Rose asked as a three Scout-bots made their way to her. She brought up her pistol again and aimed at their chests, and fired two shots into each bot causing her pistol to go upward on each second shot and getting head shots, and dropping all three bots shortly.

"No, no. There are not going to be any until the fifth wave," he answered.

"Ngh!" Rose grunted as a Demo-bot charged at her with it's sword drawn. She was able to dodge just in time for it to slash downward, and before it could react, she brought her left sword and shoved it in the robots head. The robot spazzed for a brief moment and then went lump, falling to the floor. Rose kicked away the bot and mentally went over how many bullets she had in her pistol. After the first initial shot to the rocket, she added that to the six shots and counted that she five shots left in her current magazine.

"Rose! We're gonna need some help with this bot! We're slowin' him down but he's still comin' at us!" she heard Engineer call out over her earpiece.

"Got it!" And with that Rose was off to help defend the others. "Soldier, you and Pyro hold off the other bots, I'm falling back to give the other guys a hand. If things get to hairy up here fall back to the group, got it?"

"No worries, ma'am! We are not cowards! We will not retreat! We are not cowa-" Rose heard an explosion coming from the entrance. "Ah...don't worry! We're…totally fine!"

"Um, okay..." Rose huffed as she ran to the bridge to help defend from the super bot.

Rose rounded corner and saw the guys laying down heavy fire from the bridge as the Super bot coming towards the bridge from the other pathway. Rose rushes towards Engineer where he has a sentry set up and a dispenser set up to the left of it and Heavy next to that. Medic was standing behind providing health to him as some of the Soldier-bots had made their way past. Before she could say anything to anyone she hears the metal footsteps of some Scout-bots coming up from the path that she had taken.

She turns and fires the last five shots of her pistol into the first few bots that came up. From what she could see, Rose counted at least fifteen including the two or three she just took down. "Engineer! Left side!" she shouted.

Engineer turned to see the robots charging at them and then picked up a device and aimed it at the oncoming group. It shot out a laser and the second it landed on one of the bots, the sentry immediately turned its aim and fired both of its machine gun turrets and four-barrage missiles at the group. A large explosion happened, causing pieces of shrapnel and metal to fly everywhere. Rose then realizes that the Super bot still needs to be dealt with and turns to see the bot getting closer than she would like. Heavy can only push it back for so long with his mini-gun and Rose still needed to reload her pistol.

After a second of thinking, Rose holsters her pistol and pulls out her other sword. She presses the red buttons on the hilts and her blades ignite with bright flames, and she throws her left blade at the chest of the super bot. It melts into the metal chest plate and the initial insertion causes the bot to subtly stop, but then continue.

"Heavy! Medic! Jump down with me and help me slow that thing down!" she shouted. The others nodded and Heavy paused his shooting long enough to jump down from the bridge. Rose jumps down and rushes towards the super bot, yanking her blade out of its chest and throws the right blade into the left ankle joint on the bot, but not directly at it. She throws it where it will be and hits it spot on. She continues forward, holding on to her chain tightly as she begins to pass the giant bot.

And then Rose looked back to see how the others are doing; two more Soldier-bots fired two rockets directly at Heavy and Rose almost made a complete stop when he was suddenly covered in a metallic red substance. The rockets hit him directly but they didn't damage him, or Medic, who was standing a few feet behind his teammate with a devilish grin. He had activated his medi-gun's Übercharge, and they were basically invincible for the time being, and Rose was amazed. She had never seen anything like it before, but she had made the mistake of not paying attention and didn't realize the giant metal bat swinging down for her.

"Rose! Look out!" Wheatly shouted, but it was too late.

In a matter of seconds, the wind was knocked right out of her as the bat made contact with her chest. The super bot continued it's swing as her body was released from the bat and she flew in the direction of Heavy and Medic, who had moved just slightly enough to take on the two Soldier-bots. They didn't realized she was hit until she flew right in between the two of them, interrupting the Übercharge beam that was allowing them their invincibility.

It was then that Rose's world began to slow down as she could feel a sudden burst in her chest, almost as if something had exploded inside of her. Her vision grew dark and her back slammed hard against the ground underneath the bridge, and all she could hear was the fading voices of her teammates.


	23. Recuperation

The Tenth Class

Chapter 23: Recuperation

"Ungh...what…?" Rose's eyes slowly fluttered her eyes open. "Ugh, why does my chest hurt so much?" She began to slowly sit up and rubbed her eyes, looked around and froze.

Rose found herself on a white bed that looked like it was a type of pod and she was in a glass cube room. To the left of the foot of her bed was a pristine toilet and a small white table with a radio, coffee cup, and clip board on it to the left of the toilet. Rose looked around some more and pulled her feet off the bed and planted them on the floor.

"Hello?" she said timidly. "Is…is anyone there?"

Rose looked down at her legs and found herself wearing an orange jumpsuit that covered her whole body. "What the hell? Uh...oh, Wheatly? Wheatly are you there?" She reached for the back of her neck, but when she placed her hand, her neuron-adapter wasn't there. "What in the world is going on?"

Rose looked out of the glass cube and there was another room, but it had nothing in it; no doors, no windows, nothing. She stood up, but felt that that was an immediate mistake as she began to feel nauseous and dizzy, her chest hurting even more now. The room around her began to spin as she lost her balance and she finally fell to her hands and knees. As she began dry-heaving, everything around her turned pitch black, and her dizziness began to subside, unlike her chest pain, and she was able to slowly gain strength to stand up again.

This time she was able to slowly stood back up, making sure that if she felt dizzy again that she would sit back down and looked around again. This time she was in a wide room, dimly lit with no visible doors or windows, but there was a giant device hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the room and the walls looked liked panels that were removable and it was eerily silent.

"H-hello? Anyone there?" Rose asked more timidly this time. Her voice echoed through the empty room with no reply to her question. Deciding it would be best to not stand around, she shifted her right foot forward, noticing that she was still wearing the orange jumpsuit.

As soon as she shifted, the device from the ceiling began to move slightly. Rose froze, waiting to see if it would move again, but after about a minute or so there was no sign of further movement so she decided to move her left foot forward now, incing her way closer to the device. As soon as she moved, the device shifted again, this time a bit more violently as it looked like it was unfolding from an upright position. She froze again, refusing to take her eyes off of the device and waiting longer before she decided to move again, and after another silent moment, she took a full step forward towards the device. As she did, the mechanism shifted even more as it unfolded, but Rose pushed forward. Where ever she was, it wasn't real, or at least real enough to cause her any physical harm.

"Hello?" she asked again, this time to the device. It stopped moving, leaving Rose to wonder what it was and what was going on.

Suddenly, the lights that were giving the room its dim lighting turned off, leaving her in pitch black darkness. Rose's body tensed up, her chest beginning to hurt again. She was starting to feel uneasy when a single light flashed on behind her. Rose turned around and her eyes widened; the light showed her, sitting in what looked like an experimental chair of some sort, arms and legs strapped to it. She appeared to be asleep, unaware of what was going on. Rose was about to walk up to what looked like her, but before she could move there were three men that walked up to the chair; two of them looked like scientists donned in white lab coats and clipboards in hand, the third man was dressed in a charcoal suit with a blood red tie. He looked more aged than the two scientists, and in some pain showed on his face as he walked up to the woman in the chair.

"Rose? Rose, are you there?" he asked in a low, husky voice. That voice. She'd heard that voice somewhere before. "Rose wake up. You have some company! These two men are here about the project you so graciously volunteered for."

Rose suddenly felt a swell of anger rise from deep in her chest and her fists began to clench as she watched the scene unfold. The two scientists then walked up to each side of the chair as the woman who was her began to slowly wake up. "Huh? Wh-what's...going on?" she asked, confused. "Johnson? What...why am I strapped down?" she began to struggle.

"Oh now easy easy, Rose. Don't stress yourself, you are here because you volunteered for our most recent line of tests on the human memory!" the suited man explained.

"Volunteered? I don't….i don't remember volunteering for anything..." she said, shaking her head. One of the scientists walked behind the chair, and that's when Rose saw it; the Aperture insignia on the back of his lab coat.

Suddenly Rose felt like the wind was knocked out of her, and she fell to her knees again, struggling for air. Rose looked up and saw scientist turn back around with a syringe full of what she could only assume was a type of anesthesia. _'N-no...'_ she thought, struggling to stand back up. _'I have to stop him...'_ Rose didn't have the strength to stand, so she began crawling.

"Oh don't worry about that…that's all in the past now, heh," the man said, almost scoffing her. "After this, you won't remember much at all."

The scientist then injected her with the anesthesia, and Rose could feel herself slip away. "No..." she finally whispered. She lost all of her strength and fell to the ground, drifting in and out of consciousness. Rose felt her body crumpling and her strength waning, but she refused. "No," she said, this time more firmly. She tried to regain her strength so she could pick herself back up.

"Don't you dare die on me, maggot!" she heard a man shout in the distance. "You die, and I will personally rain hell on heaven to pull your ass back down here!"

"S-Soldier?" she said shakily.

* gasp * "Medic, I think it's workin'!" she heard another man say with a Texan accent.

"Vell of course it's vorking! I may have lost my medical license, but zhat doesn't mean I'm an amateur by any means!" she heard someone else. Medic.

Her strength was coming back now, slowly but surely, and she was able to catch her breath again. The pain in her chest was finally going away ans she began to open her eyes. There was bright surgical lights glaring down on her and she had to blink a few times to finally let her eyes adjust to the brightness. When she could finally see a bit, there were three dark figures looming over her, one on her right and two on her left, and after a few seconds of more adjustment, they finally came into focus.

Engineer and Soldier were standing on her left Engineer right next to her and Soldier next to him, both of them looking at her with relieved looks, holding their helmets on their chests. Medic was standing on her right, blood splattered on his once pure white lab coat, sleeves rolled up as his hands were coated in blood. A look of relief and excitement came across his face as he looked over his handiwork.

"H-hey guys. What'd I miss?" Rose whispered, using a lot of her strength to utter a few words. She looked around some more and noticed that Medic's mounted medi-gun was aimed at her on low-beam.

"Well," Engineer said, looking down, trying to figure out what to say next.

"Ha! You died!" Soldier blurted, a giant smile grew across his face as he put his helmet back on. "Then you threw up your middle fingers and said 'Screw you Death! You won't take me alive!' and walked right out of there, where ever there is!"

Rose looked at Soldier with an amused look, then looked at Medic, "Doc, translation?" she asked, still using all of her energy just to talk.

"Vell, vhen you crossed zhe über-charged beam of zhe medi-gun, your heart couldn't take zhe voltage and ended up exploding vithin your chest," the German explained. Rose's eyes widened.

"Was that why you were asking me about the mega-baboon heart?" she asked him.

"Yes. I vanted to get your heart replaced before something like zhis could happen," he said, eyes narrowing.

"Huh, sorry I didn't listen..." she said with a low tone.

"Oh don't be sorry miss. Stuff happens all the time, not like you can control it or nothin'," Engineer said, trying to reassure her. She smiled warmly and closed her eyes for a second, but then immediately remembered something very important.

"Wait, what about the mission?" she asked. The three men looked down, as if something else bad had happened. "Oh dear, I didn't -"

"Oh no, fräulein, we succeeded, but just barely," Medic said.

"It cost us quite a bit of resources, and with you and Wheatly out of the picture at the time, we kinda had a rough time gettin' things organized," Engineer explained.

"We almost had to retreat like cowards, miss. It was not our most glorious moment," Soldier chimed in.

"Oh, well at least you guys did it!" Rose said, trying to cheer up her team. "And I'm still here, so it's good, right?"

"Almost," a female voice said from behind Engineer and Soldier.

"Hello Miss Pauling!" Soldier said, saluting the assistant.

"Hello Soldier. Rose, how are you feeling?" Miss Pauling asked as she approached the surgical bed.

"Well, I'm better now than I was, heh. But I do have a few questions, like where's Wheatly? And how long was I out?" Rose asked.

"Oh, the little fella? Here..." Engineer reached into a small pocket he had on his overalls and pulled out the microchip that held her AI and put it in her hand. "When Medic saw that you went down, he called me over real quick and handed me the little guy. Told me that without you being there, he wasn't able to function and needed me to hold on to him for safe keeping."

Rose smiled with relief. "Thank you guys. Now about how long I was out?"

"I can explain zhat. You were dead for about four or five hours before I vas able to get all of your major organs back to vorking condition vith a makeshift heart. Zhen ve arrived her and, vell heh, zhe rest is history," Medic explained.

Rose looked at him for a moment, letting all the information sink in and then sighed with relief. "Well, I sure am glad you know what your doing, Medic," she said.

"Well we couldn't rightly keep him if he wasn't on of the best, Rose," Miss Pauling mentioned. "Anyways, she should probably get some rest guys. Medic, you're gonna look over her right?" The German gave a confident nod as he began cleaning up. "Alright, Engineer why don't you go ahead and let the others know Rose will be fine, but no visitors. She need her rest."

"Can do, ma'am!" Engineer said, and made his way out of the room. Not knowing what else to do, Soldier decided to follow.

Pauling watched them leave and waited for the doors to close, and once they were she turned back to Rose and Medic, a look of hesitation came across her face. "What's wrong Pauling?" Rose asked, trying to stay awake.

"Hm, well, the Administrator isn't too happy that we almost lost that area..." the assistant said. "But don't worry, the fact that we still beat Gray's bots means she won't stay mad for long. I even talked her out of putting you under house arrest again!"

"Really? After what happened, she considered putting me under house arrest?" Rose inquired. From what she was told, Rose's organization on the battlefield was what gave the mercs their advantage over the last few battles.

"Yeah, but I convinced her that your help out their was what these guys needed to stand a better chance. It took her a bit, but she finally came around," Pauling reassured her.

"Hmm, I can live with that then, heh," Rose tried to laugh, but didn't really have the energy for it.

"Really? A pun? After you basically died?" Miss Pauling said, putting a hand on her hip.

"Yeah, heh, I don't really cope with death well, so my coping mechanism are bad jokes and sarcasm," Rose explained. "If Wheatly was active, he'd confirm that."

"That reminds me, you should probably check on him as soon as possible. He's probably going to be worried sick," Miss Pauling reminded her.

"Yeah I plan to. Right now I need some rest though."

"Fair enough. Alright you two, take it easy."

"Of course, Miss Pauling!" Medic said as he put several of his tools away after he cleaned them. "Nothing but resting here!"

"Hm, okay. We'll talk later, okay Rose?" Rose nodded and Miss Pauling made her way out of the medical bay.

"Alrighty, Rose. Ve are going to take you to zhe room and get you some rest," Medic instructed.

"Okay, doc," she said with a weak smile. She began to muster up enough energy to sit up, and Medic came over to help. Rose looked down at her chest and realized that she had bandages wrapped all around her torso. "Hey, what's with the bandages? I thought the medi-gun could heal up any wounds?"

"Oh it can, but I had to use most of zhis one's power to bring you back to consciousness," he explained as he lifted her right arm over his shoulders and helped her up to her feet. As she began to stand, she felt her legs began to give out but Medic held on to her tightly. "It's alright, I've got you."

Rose smiled, and tried to not let him carry all the weight and they both moved slowly to their room, through the doors and to her bed, where he slowly helped her on. Once she was settled, Medic went back out into the bay to gather some items to help her rest, and Rose brought up her AI chip that she grasped tightly in her right hand.

"Sorry for the screw up, buddy. I'm sure you'll never let me live it down though, heh," she whispered to the chip, wishing she could talk to him right then and there. But she knew she had to rest, and he would probably talk her ears off about the battle.

Rose put her hand down and Medic walked back in with an IV drip to keep her body hydrated as she slept, probably knowing that she would be out for a while, as well as two painkillers to help the pain subside. "Here, take zhese," he handed her the pills and she threw them back and swallowed.

As he set her up with the IV drip, she slowly let herself drift to sleep, Medic watching over and making sure she would be fine. After a few minutes, she finally fell asleep and her mind drifted to the furthest reaches of subconsciousness.

* * *

 _*_ _coo coo *_ Rose heard a soft cooing enter her sleep, and something sitting on top of her stomach. She slowly came out of her slumber and eyes fluttered open to her dimly lit bedroom. After her eyes were opened, the first thing she saw was Archimedes relaxing on her.

 _* coo coo *_ He cooed again, alerted to her moving as she woke up. "Archimedes hush, she is trying to rest," she heard Medic from his desk. Rose lifted her head slightly and caused the dove to flutter his wings as she moved and Medic turned to see what was going on. "Oh! It's good to see zhat you are awake, Rose!"

Medic got up from his desk and went over to her side to help her sit up. "Ngh, yeah. I slept pretty hard. How long was I asleep for?" she asked as she took his hand and lifted herself up with his help.

"Oh not too long. About 16 hours or so," he said.

"What? Seriously?" she said, a bit bewildered.

"Oh yes, zhat vas about zhe amount of time your body needed to properly heal," he said as he checked her IV drip. "And by zhe looks of it, you don't need zhis."

Medic pulled the drip out of her left arm carefully and wrapped up the stand and pushed it over to his side of the room. He then walked back over and took a seat at the edge of her bed. "Alright," he began as he pulled out a small key chain flash light out of a small pocket on his suit vest. "Try not to blink, just have to run some simple tests to make sure you're in good condition."

"Heh, it's okay doc, I know the procedure," she chuckled as he flashed the lights in her eyes. After that he checked her pulse to make sure her heart palpitations were good. "You know, I could get Wheatly to do a check-up on me. I do need to make sure he's okay after all," Rose pointed out.

Medic looked up from his watch, and smiled, "Huh, I suppose you are right. But only if you insist."

"Thanks Medic." Rose looked around and found the chip on her night stand next to her bed. She picked it up and looked it over; from what she saw it was still intact and no major damage could be seen. She felt the back of her neck and didn't feel anything out of the ordinary, so she inserted the AI chip in the slot of the neuron-adapter, and once it was in she felt a buzz and whirr as the device accepted the format of the chip.

Rose remembered that Wheatly wasn't out this long before, and was a bit concerned if anything would go wrong, but it seemed that everything was in working order. She heard some clicking and felt a surge of energy shoot through her spine and through her head, assuming that Wheatly was connecting. After a few seconds of silence, Wheatly appeared right in front of her, arms behind his back and his head hanging low. It was nice to see his holographic form again, and before she said anything, the AI pretended to stretch and yawn as if he had just woken up from a long nap.

"Ahhhhhhhhh…..what a nap…." he yawned. It took a few seconds to realize what was going on, then his eyes widened and a frantic look came across his face. "Oh no...Rose! Rose!"

"Hey, hey it's alright! I'm right here, I'm fine!" Rose said quickly to try and calm him down.

"Oh! Oh thank goodness! I was worried sick about you! What happened? All I remember was you getting the wind knocked out of you by that giant, metal baseball bat, and when you passed Medic and Heavy, everything started going haywire," he said. "Your vitals instantly plummeted and your hear...it, wait..."

"Um, Wheatly..." Rose said sheepishly, guessing what he was about to say next.

"IS THAT A BABOON HEART IN YOUR CHEST!?" Wheatly shouted, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Yes, yes, but let me explain -"

"Who put that there!? Wait…." he turned to Medic who was still sitting on the edge of Rose's bed. "YOU."

Medic put both of his hands up in surrender, "Yes, it vas me, but if you'll just calm down and listen, ve had a perfectly reasonable -" he was cut off.

"I KNEW IT! I knew you'd just throw something in this poor girl eventually!" the AI accused the German.

"Wheatly!" Rose raised her voice, a tinge of anger in it.

"What?!"

"He had to do it! It was the only way to save me and prevent my heart exploding again!" she explained. Wheatly looked at her in surprise. "Ugh, remember when we first got here, Medic explained how his medi-gun worked?"

Wheatly shook his head to get back into reality, "Um, yeah...yes, I do."

"Well, the only heart that can handle the Übercharge from his medi-gun is a mega baboon heart with a specialized meter attached to it, to regulate the charge for the short time it's active."

"Yes, yes, I remember the whole conversation now," Wheatly said.

"As it so happened, my heart was obviously not strong enough for the charge when I passed through the beam when I got hit. So to keep my body going, Medic made a make-shift heart, then when we arrived back here, he gave me the baboon heart," she finished explaining.

It took a few seconds for Wheatly to finally come to terms with what he was told. "Okay," he finally said, calm now. "At least you're alright now, and he save you...but what happened to me when all of this went on?"

"Well, from what they told me, Medic ejected you and gave you to Engineer for safe keeping until I was able to take you back," Rose answered.

"How long were we apart?"

"Hmm, if I'm right, about around 24 hours."

"Wow. That's the longest we've ever been apart," he said, putting his head down. He then turned to Medic, "Listen, mate. I'm sorry I went off like I did. I was just...worried was all."

Medic gave him a soft smile, "Es ist in Ordnung, herr Wheatly," Medic said. "If it vere me, I probably vould have done zhe same zhing."

"Thanks, mate," Wheatly said. "Rose is...well, important to me. Without her," he turned to her, "don't even exist." A large smile came across Rose's face, and her eyes became a bit watery.

"Heh, I understand," Medic said under his breath. Then he suddenly stood up and stretched. "But you should probably go and get something to eat, fräulein. You've been vithout food for quite some time, and your body is in dire need of some nutrients, I'm sure."

"He's right," Wheatly agreed. "You need something in your system before you pass out again."

"Ugh, I think I'm good with being unconscious for a bit," Rose scoffed, as she began to get off her bed. "I feel like a vegetable, I need to stretch my legs out."

"Be careful not to move around too much, Rose. You're still very weak, and too much moving around could cause exhaustion," the AI warned.

"I couldn't agree more! Be careful on your way to the recreation room," Medic chimed in as he sat back down at his desk.

"Don't worry guys, I'll be fine," Rose said as she slowly began to stand up. She made sure she had her balance and that her legs weren't going to give out on her as she stood, and once she knew she was good to go, Rose began to make her way out of the room. "Maybe after I eat I can take a shower and change clothes. After experiencing death, I can safely say I smell like it."

"Well, I would probably agree with you if I had a nose, but I guess in this case I'm glad I don't," Wheatly teased.

"Hmph, it's good to see you haven't lost any of your sass," Rose scoffed, exiting the room.

"And aren't you happy that I haven't?" he asked. Rose didn't answer, but smiled as she walked through and out of the medical bay. "Right, Rose? Right?"

"Heh, sure buddy. I sure am."

* * *

Rose was surprised to see that no one was hanging out in the recreation room when she got in. Although when she looked at the clock above the fridge and it read 2:13 AM, it made sense that everyone was probably asleep. She chuckled to herself, half expecting some of the mercs to be in here but thought it was funny that she already had all the sleep she could take for a good few hours. Rose then walked on over to the fridge to see if there was anything that she could eat, and since she was completely famished, she wasn't going to be picky.

Rose opened up the door and saw that the fridge had currently been restocked with an assortment of food and drinks, ranging from various dips for chips to two gallons of orange juice and milk. Deciding to keep it simple and quiet, Rose decided to have a bowl of cereal, so she grabbed a jug of milk and went over to the cupboards to get a box of cereal and a bowl.

"Seriously? Just cereal?" Wheatly asked.

"Yes, it's two in the morning, dude. I'm not going to wake everyone else up just to make some food. It's called being courteous," she scolded as she poured the cereal.

"Hm, okay, you do have a point. But at least have some toast with it. And a glass of orange juice," the AI recommened.

"Of course," Rose assured him.

Rose got all of her food and drink together and sat down to eat. Within minutes she scarfed down the whole bowl of cereal and demolished the two pieces of toast, along with downing a twelve ounce cup of orange juice. Once finished, she sat back in her chair deciding on if she wanted seconds or not, and after a few minutes of debating, she decided it was best she didn't over-do it on the food. She cleaned up her mess and headed out of the recreation room, with no arguing from Wheatly about eating more, but instead of going back to her room, Rose decided to go down to the training room.

As she got down the stairs, she listened for anyone who might have still been awake, but a bit relieved that there was no one present. She didn't want anyone creating a commotion about her being up and about after what happened. Rose reached the bottom of the stairs in the garage and was about to head to the training room, when out of the corner of her eye she spotted something; it was an acoustic guitar that was leaning up against Engineer's work bench near the far side of the room.

"Heh, well looke at that," she whispered.

"Hm? What is it?" Wheatly asked.

"It's a guitar. And it looks like it's in pretty good shape," she pointed out. Rose walked on over to the instrument and looked it over before picking it up. "It must be Engineer's."

"Why do you say that?" Wheatly asked.

"Well he told me a while back that he played. I was going to tell him that I did too, but then we were interrupted," Rose explained.

"Wait...you play...oh right! I almost forgot about that!"

"Heh, yup. Man, how I do wish playing," Rose said, reminiscing.

"Well, you can still play, can't you? It's not like you forgot how," the AI reminded her.

"Yeah I still remember, but this isn't my guitar. Plus I wouldn't even know what to play," she said.

"Hmmm, oh I know! What about that song you always played for those kids, y'know? Back at that small town in New Mexico?" Whealty suggested.

Rose thought for a moment, and then remembered exactly what he was talking about. "Oh, you mean ' _Over the Rainbow_?'" she asked.

"Yeah! That one! You should play that one!"

"Haha, okay okay….I guess," Rose began to reach for the guitar, but then quickly retracted her hand. "I don't know, man. It's not mine. I would feel really bad if Engineer got upset that I was messing around with his guitar."

"Rose. You practically died, and everyone still thinks you're asleep. Plus, I don't see him being the quick-to-anger type," Wheatly tried to reassure her.

"Hm, I suppose," she said, looking over the guitar again. She remembered how much she loved the vibrations of the strings on her fingers and she strummed the chords, singing along to the melody.

After a few seconds of thinking, she gently grabs the neck of the guitar and lifts it up. She looks around for a stool to sit on, and as luck would have had it, there was one at the other end of the workbench. Rose walked over to the stool and sits down, placing the guitar on her right thigh and looked over the instrument again; it was a simple light brown acoustic guitar and as Rose brought her thumb across the stings, it was perfectly tuned.

"Wow, he takes really good care of this guitar," Wheatly said.

"I did too," Rose mentioned. She closed her eyes to help her remember the key that the song was in.

Then she began strumming the C major chords.

 _Somewhere over the rainbow,_

 _Way up high_

 _And the dreams that you dream of once in a lullaby_

 _Somewhere over the rainbow_

 _Bluebirds fly_

 _And the dreams that you dream of_

 _Dreams really do come true_

 _Someday I wish upon a star_

 _Wake up where the clouds are far behind me_

 _Where_ _trouble melts like lemondrops_

 _High above the chimney top_

 _That's where you'll find me_

 _Somewhere over the rainbow_

 _Bluebirds fly_

 _And the dreams that you dare to_

 _Oh why oh why can't I_

 _Well I see trees of green and red roses too_

 _I'll watch them bloom for me and you_

 _And I think to myself_

 _What a wonderful world_

 _Well I see skies of blue_

 _I see clouds of white_

 _And the brightness of day_

 _I like the dark_

 _And I think to myself what a wonderful world_

Rose paused, letting the chord sound drift. "Wow, zhat was quite impressive," she heard someone say from the staircase. Rose quickly turned her head to see Spy, Engineer and Medic standing along the railing of the stairs.

"Oh um, Engineer...I'm sorry...I meant to -" Engineer held up his hand.

"Ma'am, with the way you handled her, you can play my guitar any ol' day of the week," he said, tipping his hard hat to her. Rose smiled, blushing slightly.

"I had no idea you played an instrument to, graciously, fräulein," Medic complimented.

"Gee guys," she said, gently putting the guitar right where she found it and walking over to them. "But sorry I woke anyone up."

"Rose, the way you sang and played, zhere are few other ways I would want to be woken," Spy said with a smile.

"Heh, thanks. I'm glad you guys liked it."

"And we're glad you're doing better," Engineer said.

"Well, music always helped me through tough times, and it helped clear my mind before serious missions," Rose explained. "It was the only thing, aside from Wheatly, that kept me going for a while."

"If ya don't mind me askin', miss, what were y'all doing before ya came here?" Engineer asked.

Rose rubbed her arm and looked at her feet. "I...I don't want to say just yet. And it's not because I don't trust you guys or anything, I just….I'm still trying to figure some things out for myself is all."

"No need to apologize, Rose," Spy said walking up to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "We won't ask until you are ready to tell us."

Rose smiled. "Thanks guys," she said with relief.

"Now, it is pretty late so why don't we all go back to sleep?" Engineer suggested as he yawned and stretched his arms over his head.

"You guys go ahead, I've slept enough for now," Rose said with a wave of her hand. "I'm gonna mess around with VR room for a bit."

"Now Rose, you aren't supposed to be pushing yourself," Medic warned, shaking his finger at her.

"Oh don't worry, I'm not actually going to do an exercise or anything. I'm going to make prefabricated scenarios that we can work on as small teams," she assured them. "And possibly find a way to make the simulations work to where we can have more of us in there without overloading the system."

"Huh, well if ya need any help or extra ideas, miss, just give me a holler," Engineer said as he began to make his way up the stairs. The other two began to follow shortly behind.

"Can do guys. Now go get some sleep. I'll be fine," Rose said.

The three mercenaries then went up the stairs and back to their beds while Rose opened up the hidden door that led into the VR room. She walked in and the lights automatically turned on to her presence.

"Something tells me that you weren't being completely honest with them," Wheatly finally spoke up.

Rose began making her way over to the console near the back of the room. "Oh I was being 100% honest. I'm just not going to do that stuff first," she said.

Rose turned on the console and took Wheatly out of her neuron-adapter and inserted his chip into the console. He powered up the VR simulation as Rose inputted the coordinates of a specific location. "I have to check on something first."

 **This chapter is a little short, sorry about that. Hope you guys enjoy and please leave your thoughts and comments!**


	24. Practice Makes Perfect

The Tenth Class

Chapter 24: Practice Makes Perfect

* Huff huff * "Come on….where is it?!" Rose huffed as she ran across a concrete bridge. Behind her was a rather tall and large concrete complex with BLU INDUSTRIES logo on the side of it. Rose paused and looked down off the bridge to the bottom of the building and saw what looked like a sewage entryway opening into the building. "Huh...Pauling did say this place was basically just a mirror. That one base was like the other..."

She turned her attention to the building that laid in front of her; it was completely wooden, red all around and the entrance looked like that of a barn with a picture of a bomb and RED written on it. She walked over to the other side of the bridge and looked down and sure enough, there was an entrance that looked exactly the same as the one leading into BLU base. Rose looked around the area to see if anyone was still following her and was relieved that there was no one there. It was night out, and the only illumination she had were the lamp lights and street lights that led to each building.

"Maybe it's in there," she said to herself as she looked at the RED building. "I hope it is at least. I need to get it before -" Rose was cut off by the sound of a device activating behind her. "Oh crap..."

Rose looked down off the side of the bridge and determined that it was easily a 20 foot drop, then she looked towards the building and saw the stairs that lead down to the sewage entrance from the bridge. Deciding, however, that she didn't have enough time she took a leap of faith and jumped off the bridge. Once she got close enough to the ground, she braced herself for a hard landing and tucked and rolled once she hit the ground. It was a bit of a shaky landing, and if she hadn't have tucked, she would have definitely broken something, or at the very least sprained. She was still crouched from the jump and then decided to not waste anymore time and broke out into a steady jog through the sewage entrance into the RED building, hoping that she had bought herself some time from _him._

Once she was in the sewer tunnels, she realized that she was ankle deep in water, and groaned as she continued her steady sprint inside the base, regardless of the water trying to slow her down. She made it down the tunnel to a three-way split where the water became deeper in the middle of the intersection. Rose rolled her eyes, _'If I knew I'd be swimming, I would have brought the right clothes,'_ Rose mused to herself. She looked to her left and saw that there were stairs leading up to the main part of the base, and if she remembered the blueprints right, it would put her that much closer to her target.

Rose ran up to the stairs but paused, listening behind her to check if he was still following her through the tunnels. When she didn't even hear a drop come from the was a bit relieved at first, but then realized that that was the only way she could know where her enemy was at. Deciding not to waste any more time, Rose jumped up the stairs, taking two at a time to reach the top; once there Rose took a quick moment to look around and found herself in a shed that had a large doorway that lead into a courtyard of sorts. She paused again to listen for any approaching footsteps and then slowly made her way out the shed into the open to look for an entrance to the target.

She was happy she decided to bring both of her swords and the chain in a retractable device she had been working on with her on this as she gripped her right one that was sheathed on her thigh; the device was attached to her belt on her back and allowed for the right amount of chain slack that way she wouldn't have to keep dealing with a loose chain whenever she threw her swords out. Rose looked to her left again, remembering the layout, and saw a large circular door that had a red-lit sign with _INTELLIGENCE_ in big white letters above the entrance. Rose smiled and made her way to the door quickly, but before she could enter it, a slim figure had materialized right in her path.

"Dammit," Rose cursed under her breath as she halted, looking right at him.

"Bonjour, mademoiselle," Spy said as he leaned up against the door frame with a devilish smile. "Wonderful evening, isn't it?"

"Hm," she grunted. "Would be nicer if I could just get in and get that intelligence, don't you think?"

"Hmmm, no. I would have to disagree. But you did get closer zhan I was guessing. I suppose I owe Scout some money," he said as he stood straight up.

"Seriously? You guys made a bet on how long I would last?" Rose whined, feeling a bit hurt. "And you didn't let me have any of that action?"

"Eh, we zhought it best to let you focus. None zhe less, I believe you have failed," Spy took a step forward and pulled out his butterfly knife from a pocket inside his suit jacket.

"Um, nope," Rose plainly point out, crossing her arms. "Nah, I don't think I have."

"And why do you say zhat?" Spy took another step. Rose noticed, but stood her ground, unflinching.

"Because the mission was for me to get the intelligence, or get taken down trying. Since neither have transpired, I'm not done yet," she explained.

"Heh," Spy let out a chuckle, "I do have to admit, you are determined."

"You don't even know the half of it," Rose said with a smirk.

Without a second thought, Rose reached for her left butterfly sword switched the button to the electric symbol and pressed it. Spy saw what she was doing and charged for her, planning on taking her out before she had a chance to defend, but Rose wasn't planning on fighting back. She gripped her blade in her left hand in a reverse grip and brought it high above her head and jumped back. In a matter of seconds she threw down her blade towards the concrete near Spy's feet, and once the blade made contact, there was a rather large surge of electricity that sparked up right in front of the masked mercenary, causing him to stop on his assault and cover his eyes from the lights that sprang forth in front of him. Rose took that opportunity to bolt passed Spy while he was distracted, yanking her blade out of the ground as she passed by heading into the large room that held the intelligence.

Once he realized he wasn't in any immediate danger, Spy looked behind him to see Rose making her way into the intelligence room. Scowling at the fact that he became distracted, Spy looked at his cloaking watch and activated it, hoping it would give him the edge he needed. Unfortunately, the electrical surge had caused his devices to short-circuit and fry out, meaning that he only had his skills and his knife to take Rose down with. Without hesitation, he began to sprint after the female mercenary as she made it to the center of the room and picked up the red brief case that held the intelligence. She picked it up quickly with her right hand and turned to see Spy close on her heels, so she began running for the exit that was on the other side of the room.

Once she turned the corner, she saw a circular chute to the immediate left of her and tried to remember where it led. "The sewers!" she recalled out loud, then went straight for it. Once she neared the chute, the doors split open and she jumped right in without hesitation and she fell into the deep part of the intersection she had found herself in earlier. Rose swam back up for air and continued on her way to her next destination, not stopping for anything and following the tunnel she had taken earlier. As she ran down, she heard a splash echo through the tunnel behind her, signaling that Spy wasn't easily giving up either, and she continued her pace.

Rose managed to make it out of the tunnels in good time, despite being completely drenched and quickly analyzed the best route for her to take; she could take the stairs to her left back up to the bridge, but that would take too much energy. She could take the railroad tracks to the other side to the other set of sewer tunnels that lead into BLU base, but then she'd still have Spy on her tail. Rose looked passed the railroad tracks and found a small set of stairs leading up to the other side of the bridge near BLU base. The only problem was that there was a giant gap of nothing in between. Rose heard the stomping of footsteps behind her and made her decision and ran to the edge near the railroad tracks. She switched the briefcase to her other hand, brought out her other butterfly sword, it also being connected to the retractable chain and hurled it to a wooden beam on the other side of the gap just above the stairs. Happy to see that her aim was still true as it hit square on, she broke out into a dead sprint and shortened the chain slack when she neared the edge.

With the momentum she had gathered, Rose leaped into the air, grabbing hold of the chain tightly as she swung across the chasm of nothingness and using her body weight and kinetic energy to swing herself to the other side. Unfortunately, she could feel the blade start to give way due to all the pressure that pulled at it, and as she reached the other side of the chasm, the blade broke off from the wooden beam that it was housed in. Rose could feel herself falling slowly as the other edge began to pull up in front of her.

But she refused to let it end there, and she reached her right hand out and before she could fall all the way, grabbed on to the edge, barely hanging on. Not letting what just happen deter her from completing her objective, she threw the brief case over the edge onto the ground and pulled herself up onto the ledge. Once on safe ground, she turned around to see Spy staring at her in amazement, surprised that she was able to make that jump at all. Rose just smiled at him as she picked up the brief case and began making her way up the stairs towards her final destination. Spy shook his head, remembering what his objective was and decided to take the railroad to the sewers to try and cut her off.

Rose had made it to the top of the stairs, and paused. "Whew..." she huffed. "This is enough of a workout for a month..." she bent down a bit to catch her breath and then turned to see if Spy was still there. He wasn't, nor was he climbing the stairs next to RED base that led up to the bridge which only meant he was heading for the sewer tunnels. "Can't stop here though. Not when I'm so close."

Rose then began to steadily jog her way to BLU base and entered through the giant doorway leading into the base. As she made her through, she thought about which way would be best get her to her destination, and going through the courtyard was out of the question. However, there were some stairs that lead up to a catwalk that looked over the courtyard but ended up leading right into the room where she needed to drop off the briefcase. Figuring it was the best plan she could come up with and keep an eye on Spy, she turned right to the stairs that laid just next to the entrance of the main hall and went up.

Once at the top and out on the catwalk, she heard someone coming from below and turned to see Spy just make his way out of a shed that was almost identical to the one in RED base. Rose paused as the two locked glares as she gripped the briefcase in her left hand, her eyes full of mischief and commitment and his of determination to not let her succeed, and before Spy could say anything threatening, Rose bolted for the entryway that lead into the large room in BLU base where she had to drop off the briefcase. Spy began the chase again, hoping to catch her before she got to the door to drop off her objective, and as he entered the bottom floor entryway he saw her jump down and not even bother looking at him as she headed for the door labeled _TOP SECRET_.

As a last ditch effort to stop her, Spy lunged forward hoping to grab her but ultimately grabbing her ankle, bringing her down to the ground with him. "WHOA!" she shouted as she fell. The threw the briefcase towards the door as she fell, and once she hit the ground, braced herself for a close-quarters fist fight.

Rose turned herself around in time to see Spy picking himself up as he pulled out his butterfly knife, ready to plunge it in her abdomen. Not willing to go out just yet, she pulled back her right leg and shot it forward with as much force as she could muster, feeling the internal organs become crushed as Spy fell into the kick. Rose was able to kick him off her and knocked enough breath out of him where she was able to pick herself up and ready for a fight.

"What, no swords?" Spy said with a smile as he saw her put her fists up instead of grabbing her swords to defend.

"Na, figured I'll play nice this time," she said with a wicked smile.

"Very well," he responded, putting his butterfly knife back in his jacket. "I'll play along."

Spy put his fists up in the same fighting stance as Rose, both waiting for the other to make a move. "Ladies first," Spy said, breaking the silence.

"Age before beauty," Rose mocked back.

Spy smiled and took her invite and rushed her first, keeping his fists near his face in defensive position. As he neared, he used his left fist to take a jab at her throat, but predicting this Rose was able to block with her forearms until she saw his right fist coming for a low blow to the side of her abdomen. Rose quickly blocked with her arm and pushed his away as she took a jab with her other arm to his chest, in the same place she had kicked him only moments before. Seeing this, Spy managed to grab her wrist before it made contact but Rose wasn't going to let that stop her attack as she reverse grabbed his wrist and spinning around to his right side as she brought up her right elbow the side of his face, landing a blow on his jaw joint. The sudden pain caused the masked merc to let go of her wrist and Rose continued her attack with a leg sweep with her left leg, knocking his feet right out from under him.

For the sake of seeing where this fight would end up, Rose backed off and let her opponent gain composure again, though it was quicker than she was expecting. Spy jumped back up into a fighting position, fists up and ready for another fight, but this time Rose decided to rush him as she broke out into a full-on sprint towards him, keeping her arms close to her sides as she approached. Spy was about to jump out of the way but then Rose swung out her arms wide and rushed the mercenary, grabbing him around his waist as tightly as she could, but struggle as he might, Spy was not able to loosen her grip and she ended up pushing him back some. With her momentum still going it was hard for him to keep good footing, but eventually prevailed as he planted his left foot firmly behind him as a balance and tried to push back with his right.

Spy then clasped his hands together over his head and was about to bring them down on Rose's lower back as hard as he could when Rose suddenly began to lift him off the ground. She had waited until he had footing and was distracted with taking her down to use the built up momentum from when she stopped to lift him up, still gripping around his waist. Once he was basically over her shoulder, Rose use gravity to finish the job by falling backwards and pile-driving the masked mercenary's head straight into the concrete, causing him to be stunned from the sheer force of her weight and his hitting the ground all at once, Rose hearing a slight cracking noise coming from Spy's neck. She quickly got back up from falling on her back and looked down at spy; he was almost unconscious from impact, laying on the ground dazed and out for the count and body sprawled out on the floor.

Rose grinned. "Also, ladies don't use wrestling moves," she said, and turned around to head towards the briefcase. She bent down to pick it up and heard some shuffling noise behind her, but ignoring it she headed for the door.

She grabbed the doorknob and turned, and the whole room around them began to change. The briefcase disappeared from her hand and the room slowly switched to white panels and bright room with a blue tint to the lights. Rose turned to see Spy struggling to stay conscious as Medic and Engineer came down from the command console of the VR room to the two.

"Well I'll be damned, I almost thought Spy had ya there, Rose," Engineer said as he walked up next to the masked man laying on the floor.

Medic knelt down next to him and began to check the wounds around him. "I vas equally impressed. I didn't zhink you could pick Spy up like zhat, let alone beat him."

"What can I say, I was itching for some payback," Rose said with a smirk. "I'm just happy he was willing to fist to fist at the end. I didn't feel it fair that my gadgets still worked but his didn't..."

"Well you were the one that broke them to begin with," Wheatly's voice came over the intercom of the room.

"Now I didn't break them, I just had them stop working for a bit to give me an advantage," Rose put up her hands in defense.

"Regardless, Spy was your enemy in zhis simulation. You took out his gadgets, ja, but zhat doesn't mean that your enemy vill be so respectful to fight you like he did near zhe end, fräulein," Medic said as he pulled out his medi-gun to heal Spy.

"Yeah, I know," Rose said as she walked up to the console to grab Wheatly. "That's why I pile-drove him into the ground. If the situation were different, then my fighting style would have been different."

"Hm, I thought this simulation was supposed to be like a stealth mission," Engineer said, putting his hand on his chin.

"I suppose it could've been, but when it's just one on one, it turns into a fight to the finish," Rose stated as she put Wheatly back where he belonged. "If I could get my hands on the right tech to upgrade this thing to hold more people and bigger simulations, then we could actually do some real training with everyone involved."

"And how exactly are ya gonna find whatever it is you need?" Engineer asked.

"Well, I'm not sure. I need to do some digging but I'm sure I'll find something," Rose stated.

"Wow, that whole thing...I mean, that was impressive, Rose," a woman's voice spoke up from the doorway of the VR room. The three conscious mercenaries looked up to see Miss Pauling standing there. "Although, don't you think you a bit rough on Spy there at the end?"

"Heh well, I mean it was a bit of payback from the last time," Rose rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Plus, I've been taking it easy for the past week since my heart exploded. I needed to release some pent up energy."

"Fair enough. Is he going to be okay Medic?" Pauling asked.

Medic was holding the semi-conscious merc over his shoulders and smiled at the mousy assistant, "Oh of course he'll be fine! He's had much worse than what Rose here administered, and it's not like she broke his neck or anything...or at least I didn't feel anything like that..."

"Seriously, doc?" Rose whined. "Don't make me worry like that!"  
"Oh calm down, he's fine. He'll be on his feet in no time, inhaling that poisonous müll into his lungs soon enough," Medic continued with a smile as he began dragging the masked Frenchman out of the room.

"Hm, you know what guys?" Pauling said after Medic and Spy were out of the room. Engineer and Rose looked at her, waiting for her to continue. "I just realized that you haven't been up against Engineer, Medic, or Sniper since we've had this VR training room."

"Huh...yeah, you're right," Rose thought for a moment, then her face lit up with an idea. "Well, I want to see how I fair against Sniper one on one. But Engie? You and Medic think you guys can take me on together?"

"Wh...why both of us?" Engineer said, a bit surprised by the suggestion.

"Well Medic was right about an actually enemy not granting me any possible respect on the battlefield. And in real-case scenarios I more than likely won't just be taking on one opponent, which has been the case with the battles with Gray Mann and his bots."

"She has a point. If Rose takes on more of you at once, then she can learn how to fight back even better than the last time. Training with you guys is the best thing for her," Wheatly spoke up.

"Hmm, well if its what you wanna do, miss," Engineer said. "Then I don't see why not. I wouldn't mind seeing how you'd fair against some of my turrets."

"Awesome! And our simulation can be another capture intel mission, like with what I had with Spy," Rose suggested. "But maybe with a few changes..."

"We can discuss the details later when Medic is done fixing Spy," Pauling interrupted. "In the meantime, go find Sniper and see if he would like to try his hand at the simulation."

"Yeah, I'll go do that now," Rose said, making her way out of the VR room. "Um, where is he right now, anyways?"

"Oh, he's probably at his snipping nest on the top floor of this building. Just take the elevator at the end of the first floor hallway. You know the one I took you on? Next to the stairs?" Pauling instructed.

"Oh yeah! Got it! I'll go find him," Rose said, then left.

Rose made her way up the stairs out of the garage and up to the second floor hallway, continuing her way upstairs. Once she made her way to the first floor she looked to the right of her and saw the elevator doors and went over to press the button to open them. The doors slowly opened and she stepped inside, looking at all the buttons and which one led to the top floor. As she scanned them over, her eyes landed on a button that said SUB LVL A. She froze, remembering when she first arrived, and how much she instantly had a dislike for the Administrator. Her finger hovered over the button that Miss Pauling had pushed, tempted to go confront the old woman herself, but after a moment of thinking of the implications or what she would even possibly say, Rose brought her finger over the button that had the number five next to it, right under the roof access button.

"I almost thought you were going to pay the Administrator a visit for a moment there," Wheatly spoke up as the elevator ascended to the top floor.

"I was thinking about it. But things are going fine right now, so there's no need for a confrontation at this time," Rose stated calmly.

"Well I would disagree, and I know you would too, but I won't argue."

"Thanks..." Rose looked off to the side. "Maybe one day, but just not today." The elevator came up to a slow halt as it reached the top floor and the doors opened up to a dimly lit hallway with about four doors along the way and a single window at the end looking out to the compound and the surrounding forest. "Hm, which room is he in?"

"Scans indicate he is in the northeast room. The last door on the right," Wheatly indicated.

"Cool," Rose said as she walked out of the elevator and down the hallway.

She walked slowly and lightly, knowing that even though they are all of the same team, she couldn't help but feel like she was intruding on some personal space with how quiet it was. Rose came up on the door at the end of the hallway a hesitated; she never really got the chance to actually talk to Sniper on any personal level. She didn't even know how to start a conversation with the most reclusive member of the team, but after a few seconds of thinking it over didn't let it deter her and went to turn the doorknob.

Rose slowly opened the door and peeked her head through to see a mostly empty room with only a single window looking out in the same direction of the window in the hallway. There were blinds over it, suggesting that Sniper was using them as cover when he looked out with his sniper, as well as a chair and a small end table at the right side of the chair with a coffee pot, halfway full. There was also a mug with _#1 Sniper_ on the front of it and about three or four jars of yellow liquid that Rose could only assume were jars of urine. Somehow her teammate was no where to be found.

"Hey I though you said that -" Rose was cut off by a kukri blade coming down directly in front of her face from behind the door. It was mere centimeters from her nose and without hesitation, Rose shoved her whole body weight against the door, pushing the attacker up against the wall and pinning them.

"Oof!" grunted the person behind the door. It was a man's voice, and Rose began to realize who it was that was attacking her.

"Sniper?" she said, not letting up fro the door.

"Hngh, Rose? Wh-what in the bloody hell are you doing?!" he grunted as he struggled to get free from being pinned.

Rose then jumped back from the door, allowing her ally to be free so she could talk to him. "I was coming up here to talk to you, but then you attacked and I just -"

"Of course I attacked you! I though you were one of those mechanized buckets a' bolts tryin' to sneak up on me!" Sniper gripped as he rolled the pain out of his right shoulder from being pinned against a wall.

"What, would you have wanted me to burst through the door like a madwoman?" Rose retorted.

"To be fair, you could've knocked," Wheatly pointed out.

"I...um, t-true," Rose looked down to the ground. "Sorry about that Sniper."

"Meh, I suppose it's alright," the Australian said as he walked back to his chair. "So let's get to the point; whaddya want?"

"Oh, I was wondering if you would like to have a training session with me?" Rose asked plainly.

"Hm? Ya mean like one you've been havin' with the others?" Sniper began polishing his kukri.

"Yeah. You, Medic, and Engineer are the only ones I haven't trained with, and Medic's currently busy fixing up Spy and -"

"Wait, what happened to him?" Sniper asked as he looked up from his polishing.

"Ah well, we were having our own training exercise and near the end I miiight have pile-drived him into the ground when we were fighting close-quarters," Rose said, feeling a mix of pride and shame.

Sniper looked at her with a blank expression through his tan aviator sunglasses. Then from the awkward silence he broke out into laughter. "BWAHAHAHAH! Are you serious!? You...you can't be serious?"

"Heh I am. Straight into the ground," Rose said.

"Well, I suppose you got your payback then, eh?" Sniper said, sheathing his kukri on his belt.

"Yeah, you could say that. After being on bed rest for a week, I had a lot of pent up energy," Rose explained. "Unfortunately, Spy was the one who volunteered for a training session. But it was still good, none the less!"

"Heh, whatever you say, miss," Sniper looked out the window, still grinning at what happened to his masked counterpart. "Also, I'm surprised you were on bed rest. When Medic gave us all mega baboon hearts, we were on the field within the hour."

"Huh, really? He insisted that I stay on bed rest for the week after the surgery," Rose mentioned.

"Well I suppose in your defense, ya were dead for a few hours," he replied.

"Don't remind us," Wheatly groaned. "Say mate, are ya going to come down and train or not?"

"Alright, alright, I'll come," the Australian said, putting his hands up in surrender. "But I'm warnin' ya, I won't go easy on ya."

"Hm," Rose smirked, "Don't expect you to."

* * *

"Alright, so I figured that with this simulation Rose will be making her way across an area to you, Sniper, and the simulation ends either when you successfully take her out, or she reaches her objective," Miss Pauling explained.

The assistant, Rose, Sniper and Engineer were all standing at the center of the VR room as they went over what this training session would entail. "Okay, sounds simple enough," Rose said. "So all I have to do is make it to Sniper's position and it's all good for me?"

"That's right," Pauling confirmed.

"Huh, well that doesn't seen too hard," the female mercenary said with a smile.

"Heh," Sniper chuckled. He was standing offish from the group with his Sniper rifle, a single-shot, bolt-action rifle with a wooden stock and a massive telescopic scope and a laser sight attached underneath, was slung on his back. "Keep tellin yourself that, sheila."

"Hmph, either way, this match will be interesting," Rose retorted, not letting Sniper's confidence outway her own.

"Very," Pauling spoke up again. "Rose, are you taking any weapons with you on this run? Sniper said he's fine with his sniper rifle and kukri blade."

"Hmmm, yeah I'll take my blades without my chain attachment. Don't think I'll need anything else if I'm just moving around and not actually fighting," Rose said.

"Fair enough. Alright then, everyone ready?" the assistant asked. The three nodded and Rose pulled Wheatly and handed him over to Engineer.

The Texan took the chip and walked with Miss Pauling to the command console. Rose jogged out the door of the room quickly and grabbed her dual butterfly swords and unhooked the chains from both handles. She then sheathed the two blades and went back into the room, her and Sniper taking their positions, ready for the simulation to start. Engineer plugged Wheatly into the console and the room's lights added a light blue tint to them.

"Aaaalright!" the AI said over the intercom. "Give us a moment to add a location and time..." It took a few moments for the two at the console to decide what map would be best for the simulation, and once they finally agreed on a per-programmed map, Wheatly began the countdown. "Okay, the session will begin in 10...9...8...7..." Rose gripped her sheathed blades and Sniper took his rifle off of his back and held it, both ready for what was to come. "6...5...4...3...2...1..."

The room around them began to shift and churn as it took form for their area. The lights grew dimmer as the time of day was set to a nighttime setting and the two mercs were growing apart from one another as the place began to take shape. Rose kept her eyes wide open as the map took form; the two were beginning to be separated by large structures but what she could only assume were buildings as she was place in a room with only one entrance. As she looked out of the entrance she saw what appeared to be railroad tracks that formed a few feet from the entryway, as well as a rock formation that materialized a bit further away.

After those formed, Rose could hear the rest of the map forming, and after a few more moments of the area materializing, silence began to flood over her, with distant sounds of grasshoppers and other nighttime wildlife off in the distance. Rose slowly made her way to the entryway and put her back right up against the wall next to the door. She waited a few more seconds before poking her head out just enough to see what else had formed.

To her surprise, there were two separate tracks that lead up to a two story platform, both leveling off at the first story before continuing upward. The whole area was blocked off by large buildings, wooden on one side which was her side, and the other side with concrete or metal buildings. There were lamp lights that glimmered in the nighttime darkness that illuminated the area, some parts more than others but still enough to spot something out. Rose noticed some dark areas that would work as potential hiding spots with good cover, depending on where Sniper was going to be shooting from. Aside from that, it was nothing but a clear shot upwards to the second story, and Rose had a feeling that that was where she was supposed to go.

As Rose was looking around and figuring out the best course of action, a red light flashed across her face and she instinctively ducked back around the wall as a sniper shot ricochet off the entryway where she was. She flinched slightly, realizing that this wasn't going to be as easy as she was hoping.


	25. The Real Challenge

The Tenth Class

Chapter 25: The Real Challenge

"Okay, think….I need to stay behind cover, but I need to move fast," Rose said to herself. "And by the looks of it, the only way up to that area is up those tracks…..but that can't be right."

Rose thought for a moment, and tried to remember any cover she could immediately run to so she could get a better view of the area. Unfortunately the only thing she remembered was the line of rocks that was just past the first set of tracks, but she wasn't sure of Sniper's line of sight. The only thing she could do was take a leap of faith, and she began to back away from her cover to prepare herself for a mad dash to the rock formation.

"Okay….here goes nothing," Rose huffed and immediately broke out into a sprint.

The moment she was past the entryway and about two steps from safety she heard the gunshot of a sniper rifle, followed by the whizzing sound of a bullet that had just missed her backside by mere centimeters. Rose flinched slightly at the sound of the bullet whizzing past, but was relieved when she heard a ricochet off to her right. Without hesitation she quickly ducked down next to the rock formation, waiting for another shot to sound off. After a few seconds, she figured that she was out of line of fire of Sniper and looked over to the general area where she heard the ricochet of the previous bullet.

She looked around the ground and scanned the area until her eyes landed on what appeared to be a graze spot where the bullet had hit earlier. If Rose was looking at the angle the right way, she closed her eyes and pictured where the bullet could have come from; she envisioned what she had seen before she had to duck into cover, which were the two railroad tracks that led up to a third level. On each side of the tracks there were rooms off to the sides that had windows looking out around the area. _'_ _There,_ she thought, opening her eyes wide. _'He has to be up on the right side from me, or else he would have had a clean shot while I was standing here.'_

Rose looked around to see if there was anything she could use as cover and noticed a ramp next to the entryway she just ran from that led to a platform but it had no covering along the edges. "Hm, nope," she whispered to herself. She continued to look as she made sure not to poke her head up too far, in case Sniper were to see her. She saw that right as the tracks made their way upwards, there was a dry basin area underneath the tracks that allowed for decent cover, then led up to another flat area that was just a few feet higher than the basin area. Rose's gaze continues upward as she formulated a plan of action. She also noticed a doorway that was in the center of the two tracks, but remembering this was only a simulation, the area past the doorway seemed fuzzy, as if to be off limits.

"Damn….if only I could see a little further to the right, I could see what else is there," she said as she began to slowly move her head to gain a better view. However, as soon as she peered around the edge of the rock formation, a glimmer of a red light streaked across her eyes and she immediately pulled her head back, her heart skipping a bit.

Rose thought for a moment, and figured the best way to see what was out there without getting shot was to take a leap of faith. Rose calmed herself, cleared her head and pictured one goal in mind; to get underneath the right most track. Without a second thought she bolted from the safety of her rocks and made a mad dash for the right tracks, only to be immediately spotted by Sniper. He took his aim at where she was supposedly headed, which he assumed to be the only other form of cover, the tracks, and waited the short moment for when she was to pass by. As she approached, he drew in his breath and fired with and exhale, the sniper being at enough power to deal one massive critical hit on her torso. Much to his surprise, however, immediately after he fired the shot, Rose took a dive to the right, letting her get that much closer to the tracks. Sniper was sure he had landed a shot on her, and took a moment to take aim once more, but it was too late; she had already positioned herself under the tracks leading up to the room he was currently occupying.

Rose tried steadying her breathing, her adrenaline was rushing after hearing that shot fire. She paused for a moment, calming her heart rate, and then realized there was a sharp, stinging pain coming from her left calf. She looked down and her eyes widened as she saw a blot of blood on her pants come out of the bullet wound she had just received. "Damn!" Rose cursed under her breath. From the looks of it, the bullet had actually made a clean shot through her leg, and as the adrenalin began to die down, pain began to scream through her whole body.

Rose looked around to see if she could find any rags that she could use to tie up the wound, but found none. "Freakin' Sniper's gonna owe me a new shirt after this," she huffed, then paused, "And new pants..." as she pulled out one of her blades and cut into the bottom of her shirt. As she began to tear off a piece of fabric to tie up her new wound with, Sniper was patiently waiting to see what she was going to do next, unaware that he had made a shot on her. He kept scanning the area of the floor below and didn't see any sign of movement, but remained steady and patient none the less.

After bandaging up her wound, Rose flexed her leg and flinched at the pain, She had to keep going though. Carefully she stood up and began to analyze the area for her next move now that she was safe in cover again. She looked above her and saw support beams that lead up and were right against the wall leading to the next floor. Rose paused for a second to think and remember what she had seen, then began to climb the beams, knowing that she could still hide under the tracks and ignored the pain shooting up through her leg. If she could get just under him, he wouldn't be able to have a shot at her, and she could use her blades to help climb the rest of the way to the room where Sniper was at.

Once she was right under the tracks, Rose gave herself a moment to gain her strength back and pulled herself as quickly as she could under the railing next to the tracks. As she pulled herself up, she was relieved to see Sniper not looking directly downward, but off to his right, scanning near the other tracks for her poised and ready for another shot. As quietly as she could she pulled herself all the way up, but as she gave a final heave upward, the railing she was clinging to made a loud creaking noise and her heart skipped a beat. Immediately Sniper followed the sound, but before he could get a beat on her, Rose dove under the tracks once more. Sniper growled out of frustration since she was getting so close and he hadn't been able to get a good shot off of her.

Rose propped herself up against a single wooden beam that protruded itself in between the tracks and the concrete ground. She gave a sigh and looked at her leg; it was bleeding much more with all of her moving around, but she couldn't stop just yet, not when she was so close. She looked around and a sense of nervousness came over her. There wasn't any way up, aside from the tracks themselves. _'_ _Crap...'_ she thought to herself. She looked at the wall that was directly underneath the window where Sniper was positioned. She shook her head, thinking that she could climb up the concrete wall, but her blades weren't that sharp.

Rose looked up at the window and saw the barrel of his sniper poking out through it, and if she was guessing the angle right, he had his sights on the tracks. _'He knows that's the only way up, too,'_ Rose told herself. She looked back at the tracks; she wasn't sure she would be fast enough to race up the tracks before he got a shot off, but maybe, just maybe, she could trick him into firing off a shot, which would buy her time to climb up the tracks and into the room he was in. She took a deep breath and slowly made her way to the very bottom of the tracks, making sure she was still out of line of fire. Positioning herself on the side of the track, she knew what she had to do and poked her head above the track wall. Within seconds, a red flash of light came across her vision and she quickly ducked back into cover. To her relief, he fired his shot and the bullet went right through the wood, and she grabbed the wall of the tracks and used all of her strength to pull-volt over the side. Once she had her footing she pushed herself into a dead sprint up the tracks, using her good leg to get her momentum going, and ignoring the pain in her left leg as she rushed up the tracks.

"Piss!" she heard the Australian curse as he tried readying himself for another shot. But she was already out of the line of fire, turning around at the end of the tracks and bolting through the doorway that lead straight into his room.

Rose continued her charge and before he could ready his gun, she dove right for him, grabbing his chest and pulling him down to the ground with her. The two mercs landed with a thud, the wind getting knocked out of Sniper a bit as his back hit the ground and Rose landed almost on top of him. As they laid on the ground, the area around them began to shift and change, and after a few short minutes they were back in the VR room. Rose rolled away from Sniper to allow him to catch his breath and to allow some resting time for her leg.

After a few seconds, Miss Pauling and Engineer came up the them and looked down, almost with concerned looks. "What?" Rose asked, "Do I have something on my face?"

Engineer chuckled, "Heh, no, we just thought you weren't gonna make it to the top is all," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well, in all honesty," Rose sat up, "If Sniper hadn't of hit my leg, I would have gotten up there sooner." She rolled her left leg to show the red cloth around the mid section on her calf that was a darker shade of red than when she had put it on.

"So I did hit ya, ya little jack rabbit!" Sniper huffed as he too sat up. He adjusted his sunglasses and gave Rose a weak smile. "For a moment there, I was afraid I didn't do my job quite right."

"Well, you did miss me at the end," she teased. "I thought you were supposed to be the most patient of the group?"

"Don't push ya luck, sheila," Sniper grunted as he got up. "Next time you won't be so lucky." He held out his hand to her. Rose took it and he helped her up to her feet.

"I actually hope not," she smiled. "Oh, and until then, you owe me new clothes." He looked down at her shirt, seeing a piece crudely torn off from the bottom, then looked at her leg, the area around the wound now soaked with blood.

"Um, you have, ah, a bit of a spot there on yer pants, lass," Sniper snickered.

"Oh really? I must have been distracted from all of the pain going through my body. I'll get that pesky spot taken care of right away," she responded. The two smiled at each other.

"Ahem." The group looked towards the door of the room to see Medic standing there, arms behind his back. "Looks like I missed all of zhe fun!"

His eyes landed on Rose and he gave her a smile, one she returned with enthusiasm. His smile quickly faded, however, as his eyes landed on the wound on her leg. He gave a small sigh, and smiled again, "Honestly, Rose, you can't seem to go anywhere vithout getting yourself hurt," he said, making his way over.

"What can I say," Rose shrugged. "Guess I'm just accident prone."

"Heh, I suppose," Medic sighed, and held out his hand. Rose took hold and allowed him to be her crutch as they made their way back to the medical bay.

* * *

Medic was nearly done healing up Rose's leg wound when they heard a knock on the doors. Both turned to see Sniper standing in the doorway.

"Oh, hey Sniper," Rose greeted first. Medic gave a wave and went back to tending the wound.

"Heya Rose. Just, ah, wanted to come in, and well, check up on you and-"

"You want a rematch, huh?" Rose said plainly. Sniper looked a bit surprised, like he wasn't expecting that answer, then a small smile came across his thin face.

"Heh, was never good at lyin'," he said. "It's unprofessional."

Rose smiled. "Sure, we'll have a rematch. I'm thinking of actually going to a place and having us all do a training session, though," she explained.

"Oh really? Vhere did you have in mind, Rose?" Medic asked as he walked over to his mounted medi-gun.

"Haven't decided yet, I'll have to talk to Pauling and see if we are allowed to use any of the facilities as a training ground for a time," Rose said.

Medic turned on his device and Rose felt the healing effects flow through her body. The pain began to lift and she started to feel the wound on her leg heal up. Sniper stood looking at them; he had seen this happen too many times over so seeing it this time was no different, except that it wasn't one of the men he's fought along side for so long. "Hm," he grunted.

Rose looked up at him, a slight confused look on her face. "What's up, Sniper?" she asked.

"Ah it's nuthin', really," he waved off the question.

Rose tilted her head, "No, what's up? If there's something wrong I'd like to know," she continued.

"Heh, it's just...I've seen all of us healed and patched up by the doc 'ere, it's almost nice to see that it ain't one of us on this table," he said. He paused, realizing what he said. "Uh, not that seein' you 'ere is any better, what I meant was..um."

"Ha, I got ya Sniper," Rose said, "It's nice to have someone new here, right?"

"Yeah, hehe, that's what I meant," Sniper rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"I take it you were never goo with your words, eh Sniper?" Wheatley asked.

"Nah, talkin' takes up too much time and energy," he explained. "Time and energy that I can put to much better use." Sniper brought up his hand, pretending like it was a gun, and closed one eye as he pretended to shoot off an enemy's head.

"Eeehh, I both agree and disagree with that statement," Rose said, standing up. Medic had shut off his medi-gun and gave her a thumbs up to let her know she was all better. Sniper looked at her with a slight bit of confusion on his face. "I believe communication on the battlefield is incredibly important, especially with a team like us, but it is important to keep it short and to the point, so as to not be distracted with what we are saying as opposed to what we should be doing."

"Huh, I never really thought of it that way," the Australian said.

"Yeah, I like to be able to communicate with people, on and off the battlefield," Rose said. "By the way, anyone got the time? My watch is in the room."

Sniper looked down a his wrist, "Eh, it's about 3:00 PM. Whya' askin'?"

"Because I'm hungry," Rose shrugged. The other two mercs snickered. "What? it's been like, three or four hours since I ate last!"

"It's not even dinner yet, Rose," Medic stated.

"And? There's nothing against having a mid-afternoon snack," Rose responded. She began to make her way to the double-doors out of the medical bay. "And if I remember correctly, there are two slices of cold pepperoni pizza with my name on them!"

She left the room and Medic and Sniper looked at one another, smiled and shook their heads.

* * *

Rose had decided to take a moment for some peace and quiet since Heavy and Soldier were having an arm wrestling contest in the recreation room, so she went out past the fences of the compound to eat her food in peace. She was enjoying the serenity of the forest that surrounded them; there were talk pine trees that reached high into the cloudy sky above, and she sat on top of a large rock that had dried off from the rain that had visited them earlier. The musky smell of rain still hung in the air and there were sounds of small woodland creatures every now and then that came to see the creature sitting atop a rock.

Even Wheatley came out to sit next to her and enjoy the scenery as she ate quietly. Rose kept looking up at the sky, hoping that it would at least start sprinkling again so she could feel the refreshing cold drops of rain hit her face. As she took the last bite of her pizza, Wheatley turned his attention to her.

"Y'know," he started, "Despite the fact that we got pulled into a war we had no business being in, I'm actually happy that we did."

"Hmm? Why do you say that?" Rose asked.

"Well, I know how you feel about it, and I agree. We might finally have a place to belong," he said. Rose looked at him, then smiled.

"Yeah, I suppose we do," she said.

The two sat in silence for a few moments. The birds were chirping, and the flowers were blooming; it was a beautiful day. Suddenly, there was a few branches that cracked behind them. Rose noticed that the sound was too loud for a smaller animal so she decided to turn to see if it was something bigger. To her surprise, there was nothing there, and a worrying sensation came over her.

"Wheatley?" she said, not taking her eyes off of the area.

"Hm?"

"Is there anyone else here aside from us?"

"Uh, I don't think so, but I'll check. Give me a moment," he said, then disappeared from sight. After a few seconds, he spoke to her in hushed tones. "Rose, don't freak out or anything, but there are currently three enemies in the immediate vicinity."

Rose's eyes widened and her heart began to race. "Wait, seriously?" she whispered.

"Yes. We currently have one in the direction of the noise you heard, then one to our left and right," he explained. "What should we do?"

Rose thought for a moment; they didn't have any weapons and no ear piece to contact the others. "Wait, can you still get a hold of Scout?" she asked. Rose kept looking around to see if she could see their intruders.

"Um, I'm not sure, let me try," the AI said. He went quiet for a second then came back, "I'm trying to hail him, but I'm getting no response...Rose?"

"Keep trying. What are we dealing with?" she asked, her body ready to make a mad dash out of the area.

"Well, I can't tell exactly, but they don't show signs of organic life. They're Gray's bots..."

"What _kind_ of bots?" Rose asked sternly.

"Um….Spy-bots."

"Crap. Okay, let me know when they get real close and I'll bolt, but keep trying to hail Scout," Rose instructed.

"Got it."

Rose waited a few more moments, listening carefully to the movements the bots made. She closed her eyes, and envisioned the sound they were making; the cracking of branches, the moving gears, the joints creeking slightly. _'_ _I can't believe he's trying this again,'_ Rose thought to herself. But before she could continue her thought, she was interrupted by Wheatley.

"Rose, you need to move. Now. NOW!" he said frantically.

Rose opened her eyes and immediately saw a Spy-bot come out from it's cloak and was making it's way up the rock. She didn't hesitate and instantly jumped off the rock to her right and began to make her way through the woods back to the compound. As she ran, Rose could hear the metal clanking of robotic feet pounding the ground behind her.

"Wheatley, any luck?!" she huffed as she continued her sprint.

"No! I have no idea what he could be doing! And I can't get Pauling on the line either!" he said.

"Damn!" Rose cursed. She made a sharp turn around a rather large pine tree and continued to sprint towards the outer fence to get to the compound.

She didn't dare turn around, for fear that she might lose focus on her goal, but she couldn't help but feel that the three bots were right on top of her. Rose kept running and running, and she was almost to the outer fence, near the entrance. If she could just get past the entrance, once the bots would step inside the alarm would go off and the rest of her team would be alerted to the danger. As she approached the gate, she felt something grab hold of her right ankle and she fell to the ground hard and fast.

Upon landing, she scrapped the palms of her hands and almost hit her chin on the ground. She quickly turned over to see one of the Spy-bots had caught up with her and had grabbed her leg to knock her down. As the bot tried to climb up to detain her, she brought back her right leg and kicked the bot square in the face, causing it to reel back as its head spun. Rose took this moment to regain herself and picked herself up to continue her escape.

She scrambled to make it to the gate as the other two Spy-bots came up close enough to grab her shirt, but she was able to pick up enough speed to narrowly escape their grasps.

She made it to the gate and ran straight through to the garage from the roadway leading away from the gate. Within seconds, the compound was flooded with sirens, indicating that there were intruders and Rose was hoping someone was going to make it outside. But before she could get to the hill that led down to the garage, a metallic figure appeared right int front of her, causing her to come to a halt.

It was another Spy-bot blocking her path, holding a butterfly knife in its hand. Rose froze, trying to calm her breathing and focus. She could hear faint footsteps of the other three Spy-bots closing on behind her, so she decided to take action to try and get a step up until backup arrived. She charged for the bot directly in front of her, balling up her hands into fists and gearing up for close-quarters. The Spy-bot readied itself in a fighting stance, holding the knife out in front with its left hand and spreading its legs shoulder width apart, left foot front, right foot back. Rose closed the gap rather quickly and brought her right hand back for what looked like a simple jab.

Although, as she expected, the bot brought the knife back and was about to take a jab as well but Rose made a quick jump to her right, planted her right foot in the ground and shot out her left leg with a kick so hard to the bot's abdomen that it completely threw it off balance. The bot sputtered and twitched and took a few steps back from the unforeseen kick, and when it looked back up to Rose, she was already on top of it with a leg sweep. The Spy-bot fell to the ground hard, and the butterfly knife was knocked out of its hand. Rose took the moment to make a quick dive for the knife and once she had it, she plunged it directly into the bots head, causing it to spazz for a moment, and then go limp.

"Rose, left!" Wheatley warned. Rose looked up to see one of the other Spy-bots right next to her and try to make a jab with it's own butterfly knife.

Instinctively, Rose blocked with her left hand, pushing the oncoming blade out of the way and she yanked the knife she had out of the other bots head just to stab the attacking one right in its side. Apparently she hit something vital because the bot then began to spazz out as well as it stepped back and grabbed its side, as if it was actually hurt. The other two bots ran right past their dying look-a-like and charged straight for Rose. She readied herself, preparing herself mentally to take on two opponents at once, but out of no where a bullet tore right through the head of one of the bots as machine gun fire ripped apart the other one. Rose brought up her arms to protect herself from the oncoming barrage of bullets, oil, and shrapnel.

Once the bullets ceased, Rose looked in front of her to see the two charging Spy-bots laying on the ground, one in shreds and the other missing a head. She also looked at the one she had stabbed in the side and it too was down. She looked further down and saw Heavy and Sniper standing down the gravel path that lead past the garage entrance, both relieved to see that she was okay.

"Um...hi guys!" Rose said, waving at the two mercs. Heavy and Sniper looked at one another, confused at first, and then both chuckled.

Rose made her way over to them, "Nice to see you guys finally made it to the party," she said, still gripping the butterfly knife.

"We heard the sirens go off," Heavy started, "Heavy grabbed Sasha and ran out here as soon as he could."

"Same 'ere, lass," Sniper chimed in. "I was back in my snipin' point when I saw you run through the gate. Too bad your new friends went around the building too quickly, or else I would'a already dropped 'em."

"Sorry to interrupt the reunion everyone," the AI spoke up, "But Rose, Miss Pauling wants to know if the situation has been handled out here."

Rose looked around to see if any other bots had decided to show up, but much to her relief she didn't see any. However, that didn't mean she wasn't a bit paranoid. "For now. Tell her to do a scan with the surveillance cameras and go ahead and try and do an area wide scan for any electronic signature that don't belong to us. In the mean time, I think I need to go brush up on my hand-to-hand combat skills. I feel a little rusty after all that."

"Right-o, ma'am!" Wheatly said with gusto.

As soon as he went quiet, Scout ran around the corner, followed by the others. "We heard the sirens!" he said as he came to a halt in front of the three mercs. "What's going...ooon?"

Scout looked past the three and saw the four destroyed Spy-bots laying on the ground a few yards behind them. The others came up and saw what all of the commotion had been about.

"Well zhen," Spy said as he put his revolver back in his coat and pulled out a cigarette and a lighter. "Looks like Gray really wants to talk to you Rose."

"Hmph," Rose scoffed, "He's gonna have to try a lot harder than that."

"He sure is a persistent old geezer, ain't he," Demo said as he crouched near one of the closer Spy-bots.

"Seems like it," Spy said, walking over to examine the wreckage. Engineer decided to walk on over to see if there were any parts to scavenge.

"Rose?" Rose turned her head to see Medic standing next to her. "Please do not tell me you need more healing."

Rose paused for a moment, then remembered the conversation they had earlier and she laughed. "Oh, hahaha, nah I'm good. Scrapped my hands while running away, but aside from that, I'm fine."

"Sehr gut!" he said with a smile.

Everyone was standing around the mess of robotic parts and shrapnel, Rose and Engineer talking about ways they could use the intact parts for various projects they were working on, and Scout picked up the head of the Spy-bot that Sniper shot and proceeded to taunt Spy, making fun of him. However, the second bot Rose destroyed was still partially running, but only so much so that the head was still transmitting a video source back to its origin.

"Yes," Gray Mann said, as he leaned back in his chair, facing the rather large computer screen. "Yes, I would very much like to have a few words with you, Rose." He pulled a manilla folder on the table next to him closer, as he glanced to words sitting on top of it; _APERTURE SCIENCE._

 **Hey guys! I'm super sorry for the long update, I've been having some issues with my tablet with what I write my stories on. Anyways, I will try and make sure that the next update won't take nearly as long! As always, hope you enjoy, and reviews are always appreciated!**


	26. Resurface

The Tenth Class

Chapter 26: Resurface

Rose was walking back to the medical bay after going over some security ideas she talked about with Miss Pauling, still mulling over some things in her head as she approached the door. Before she opened it however, she heard a slight explosion come from inside and a splatter of blood hit the window. She froze, completely taken off guard by the suddenness of everything, and then Medic burst through the door, a light trail of smoke following behind him as he bent over coughing.

The German was donned with his normal suit vest and pants, but over them was a blood soaked apron. "Uuummm…." Rose said as she stood still.

Medic looked up, and was almost surprised to see her, "Oh! Rose! Heh I didn't zhink you'd be back so soon..." he let out another few coughs, "Ahem….ah, I vas just doing some experiments vith some baboon uterus' and ah, vell, heh...It didn't go exactly as planned."

"Yeeeah, I can see that," Rose said as she started to glance towards the door. "Um, what kind of experiments, exactly?"

"Oh! Um….it's...it's more of a surprise, but trust me! You'll love it!" he said.

"But..."

"Now zhen, didn't you say before zhat you had some projects vith Engineer you vere vorking on?" he said, as he started to turn Rose around to the Texan's workshop.

"Yeah, but I..."

"Excellent! Vhy don't you go ahead and vork on zhose, and I'll clean up a bit!"

"Wouldn't you like some hel-"

"Off you go now!" Medic said as he pushed her slightly to Engineer's workshop down the hall. She turned to give him a concerned look, but just stood there smiling at her, pretending like there was nothing going on.

"Um...okay, then..." Rose said. She turned to go to Engineer's workshop and went through the door. "Hey Engie?"

At first there was silence, and then she heard rustling coming from the nearby closet to the left of the room. Suddenly, Engineer came tumbling out of the closet, tripping over mechanical body parts and scrap metal, "Dag nabit!" he yelled.

"Engie!" Rose gasped. She ran over to the merc to help him on his feet, then noticed that the closet actually opened up into another area. Her curiosity began to perk up until she heard a grunt come from her friend. "Oh! Hey, are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah..." Engineer said with a smile as he bent backwards, trying to pop his back. "Just need to tidy up a bit is all….what can I do ya for, Rose?"

"Um, I was wondering if you would be up to continue working on those shoes we started on a few weeks ago?" Rose asked. She tried to keep her focus on him, thinking that the other room was probably a private workshop or something.

Engineer rubbed his neck and thought for a moment, "Um, shoes? I...uh, oh...oh yeah! Heh I almost forgot about that!" he chuckled. "To be honest, miss, I'm sorta in the middle of something important. I don't want to be rude or nuthin'..."

"Oh no! You're fine Engineer!" she assured with a smile. "You go ahead and do your thing! I'll go see if one of the guys are up for some training when Heavy and Scout are done in the VR room."

"Um, okay miss," he said, picking up parts that had fallen. "Don't have too much fun without me! Hehehe."

Engineer disappeared through his closet, the doors closing automatically behind him. Rose's heart sank a bit; she wanted to work on some experiments or projects, but the only two people that could've helped were already busy with other things. Rose sighed lightly and decided to go and see if any of the other mercenaries wanted to do some training.

"A little lonely, are we?" Wheatley asked, breaking the silence.

"Hm? Oh, meh, maybe a little," she admitted. "I did feel like working on stuff today, but I guess I'll go see if any of the others would like to spar with me. I could do with some hand to hand again. I feel like I need to refresh myself."

"Ah, I see. I wouldn't mind going through some exercises with you myself. We still have those martial arts files we got from when you trained with that young fellow in Texas," Wheatley said.

"Wait, you mean that mixed martial arts guy I met?" she said, trying to remember.

"Yeah, that fellow! He offered to help you out when you told him you were self teaching yourself!" he explained.

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot about him! And the whole reason we were down there in the first place!" she said, snapping her fingers at the memory like she had an idea. "Yeah, dig up some of those files and we'll run through the basic ones to get reacquainted."

"Can do!" the AI said with pep in his voice.

"Before you go do your training, I have something for you to do, Rose," a young woman's voice said. Rose looked turned around to see Miss Pauling catching up to them as they were making their way to the garage.

"Oh heya, Pauling. What's up?" Rose greeted.

"The Administrator has got me running all sorts of errands today, but I don't have time to run down to town to get some supplies we need," the assistant handed the female merc a paper. "Here's a list of items we need, along with some groceries that we are also running low on."

Rose took the paper and skimmed down the list. "Really? Shopping?" Rose gave Miss Pauling a smug look, but the assistant only returned it with an unamused look of her own. "Okay, okay. I'll go get the supplies. Can't believe I went from a mercenary to an assistant's assistant, heh."

"Well I would rather have you go than one of the guys..." she said. "The last time I sent some of the others, well...let's just say we had to leave the country for a few days."

Rose's eyes grew a bit. "Um, what – wait, never mind. I don't think I want to know."

"Couldn't tell you anyways. They made it a law in this area," Pauling explained.

Rose's eyes grew wider. "Okay then! Well, I promise I won't do...whatever they did! I tend to just stay on task anyways," she reassured the assistant.

"Thanks Rose! You'll be saving me a lot of time and doing me a huge favor!" she thanked.

"Yeah, well, you've helped me out a lot since I got here, so I really can't complain too much," Rose shrugged.

"True. Okay then, I'll let you get to it!" the assistant turned to walk away, but then turned back for a quick moment, "Oh and go ahead and take Engineer's truck. I'll let him know you have it."

"Awesome! Sounds good!" Rose said, and the two then went their separate ways.

Rose made her way down to the garage and grabbed the keys to Engineer's truck before making her way outside. The vehicle the mercenaries had were all parked in a small area outside just past the garage, so Rose just walked right up to the truck, got in and went on her way, out of the compound. As she was leaving, Wheatley spoke up.

"Soooo, we _aren't_ going to go over the training files?" he asked.

"Well not right now, but we can try when we get back," Rose replied.

"Ugh, fine. I guess," he grunted.

"Hey, I said we could try and do it when we get back! Don't get all snippity with me, mister," she sassed.

"Oh I'll get snippity alright! You'll get all the snippity-ness I can muster, miss!"

"Ha! That sorta rhymed!" Rose noticed.

"Don't change the subject!"

"I'm not. I just thought I'd mention that you made a rhyme."

The two continued to talk and keep one another company as they drove to the nearby town that Rose had been to at least twice already.

* * *

Rose and Wheatley finally made it to the little town and parked in front of the hardware store that was off of the main road that lead through the town. Once out of the truck, Rose took a look around; the place hadn't changed since the last time her and Engineer were down her to gather stuff for the shoe project they started. All of the main stores were located on the main road, with other roads leading off into more residential areas. It was a quiet afternoon, and people were going about their daily lives, Rose included.

She turned to the hardware store she parked in front of and began to make her way to the front doors. She pulled the list Miss Pauling gave her before she left and circled the items she was going to need from this one store first. As she approached the doors, she heard the faint sobs of someone crying and she looked around. There was no one out in the open who was crying, at least not that she saw.

"What are you looking for, Rose?" Wheatley asked.

"I hear someone crying..." she said softly.

"Really? I don't hear -"

"Shhh," she hushed as she followed the sound of the crying.

She came to the side of the hardware store and looked down the ally-way; there was no one in sight but she could hear the sobbing coming from down the ally. Rose decided to follow the crying to see if someone needed any help or was hurt, but Wheatley began to object.

"Rose, I don't think you should go down here..." he said with a worried tone.

"It's fine, I juts want to make sure no one is hurt," she said.

"Hmph, you are too much of a saint for your own good," he said with a huff.

"Any good hearted person would do the same and you know it," she scolded. "Now shush, I don't want to freak them out if they already are."

"Fine…" he grumbled.

Rose slowly made her way down the ally and the crying grew louder. It sounded like a child, a little girl from what Rose could tell. As she neared the end to the all-way, it split off into to other allies, and from she could tell, the crying was coming from the left. Rose turned the corner to the left to find a small girl child crying as she stood against a wall.

"H-hello?" Rose said softly, trying not to scare the poor thing.

The little girl stifled her crying for a brief moment to see who was talking to her and saw Rose around the corner. She whimpered slightly, unsure of what to make of the new stranger that slowly approached from around the corner.

"Hey, hey! It's okay. I won't hurt you or anything, I promise!" Rose said as she knelt down in front of the little girl. Rose gave her a look over; she looked to be about 8 to 10 years of age, and wore an olive green dress that had white frill on the ends of the sleeves and around the collar. She also wore the same colored bow on top of her head and looked at Rose with tear-filled yellow eyes. _'_ _Huh, that's weird, never seen eyes like that before,'_ Rose thought to herself, then dismissed the thought to refocus on trying to help the little girl.

"I – I'm lost..." the little girl whimpered.

"Okay, it's okay. We'll make sure you get unlost, how's that sound?" Rose said. She stayed down at the little girl's level to try and show her she wanted to help, which seemed to have helped calm her down a bit. "Were you here with your parents?"

The little girl nodded slighty. "I * hic * was here with my daddy..." she said. Then tears started to swell up in her eyes again. "We were walking in the store, and I went to go look at toys...and...and I went back and...and…." she started to cry again.

"Hey, its fine!" Rose said, holding out her hand in front of the child. She hated to see kids like this, it broke her heart. "If you wouldn't mind, I could help you go look for your father."

The little girl stopped her tears for a moment and looked at the young woman with confused eyes. "Y-you would?" she asked timidly.

Rose smile softly and held out her hand a bit further, "I certainly would!" she said.

The little girl smiled lightly, wiping away the tears left in her eyes. "M-my name's Olivia," she said, grabbing Rose's extended hand and shaking it slightly.

"Hi, Olivia. My name's Rose," she smiled. The little girl's smile grew a bit bigger. "Should we go start to look for your father then?"

Olivia was about to nod, when Rose noticed that the girl seemed to be distracted by something else – something, or someone, behind her. "Oh, I don't think that's necessary anymore," Olivia giggled.

Rose felt something was off immediately, but by the time she caught on it was too late. She suddenly felt a tremendous force hit the back of her head and heard Wheatley call out her name only once and the giggle of the little girl as she fell unconscious from the blow.

* * *

Her head hurt. Her body was stiff. Rose heard nothing but silence as she slowly began to open her eyes to the dim room around her. It was too dark to see anything clearly, but the throbbing on the back of her head didn't help, either. Rose tried to let her eyes adjust, and wanted to rub them, but noticed that her wrists were strapped to a chair. She looked down and saw that she had been completely strapped down to a wooden chair.

As she struggled to move, Rose missed the figure in front of her as they quietly waited for her to noticed. After a moment or two of unsuccessfully trying to free herself, Rose finally stopped and saw the slender figure in front of her, dressed in a full gray business suit: Gray Mann.

The two locked eyes, his full of a smug sense of entitlement and hers full of rising anger and a pang of hatred. _He_ caused all of this, this whole stupid war that she found herself in. Rose was ready to blame him for everything, but then stopped and calmed down. She took a deep breath and was the first to speak.

"What do you want?" she said sternly.

"Hmph," he snickered, "Right to the point, I see? Lovely, I do hate playing games." Rose remained silent as they continued to stare each other down. "Right then, let's begin."

Gray began to walk over to a slim gray-toned desk that had a few items on them, but Rose couldn't exactly see what they were. He looked at the table for a second, then returned his attention to her giving her devilish grin.

"This is how it's going to work," he began, "I am going to interrogate you, and you are going to give me the answers I want. After all my questions are answered, I'll decide what I want to do with you next."

"And what makes you think I have all of your answers? Or even want to give them to you?" she retorted.

"Ah, so predictable..." he said as he turned back to the table and picked up something small, then turned back to her and held it up.

Rose's blood suddenly ran cold and her heart skipped a beat; she stared wide-eyed at the chip he held in his hands. "Wheatley..." she whispered.

"Hm, so you do recognize this small little thing," Gray said, as he examined it. "I understand you probably won't have answers to all of my questions, but if you don't at least try and answer...well, I'm sure I don't have to explain that part."

Rose's mind was racing. She had no idea how much Gray already knew about her, and she certainly didn't want to divulge any information, but Wheatley…. _'Wheatley was always there for me...'_ she thought. Rose remained silent, unsure of what her response should be.

Mann frowned at her silence and sighed, "We both know that the whole 'remaining silent' thing is going to end well," he said. Rose glared at him, still silent. "Ugh, well then I suppose this little chip doesn't mean to you as much as I thought."

Rose watched as he put the chip back down on the desk, then without a second though picked up a hammer that he had sitting close by and was mid-swing when Rose found her voice.

"NO WAIT!" she almost screamed. Mann froze, another devilish grin spreading across his wrinkled face. "I don't know...I don't know if I have your answers, but...I'll try. Just don't hurt him." Rose felt tears start to swell up behind her eyelids, but she swallowed it back.

"Heh, you act like this thing is a person or something," Mann said.

"He is to me," she whispered.

"Whatever the case, lets start..." he picked up another thing from the desk and walked over to Rose, and held out a manilla folder in front of her, "from the beginning."

Rose saw those familiar words, _APERTURE SCIENCE_. "H-how did you get that?" she stuttered, stunned that her file still existed.

"Firstly, I'm the one asking the questions, and secondly, it wasn't easy. But that's all you need to know," Gray opened up the file to the first paper. "So, what exactly did you do here?"

Rose looked at the ground, then looked past Mann at the chip on the table and sighed. "I...I was a neurological scientist. I was, along with the others in my sector, in charge of analyzing the brain wave patterns of our test subjects as they underwent many vigorous tests and puzzles. My group, however, had more of a personal relation to the patients, as we had to ask them questions about their test and puzzles they had just been through, so we had basic knowledge of psychology, as well as a few degrees of engineering to build certain devices that actually read the brain wave patterns."

She looked at Gray, who had a bit of interest in this story. "Hm...well that checks out," he said, turning to the next page. "Now, it says here that after so many years, you began to show signs of insubordination, what exactly did that entail?"

"It..." Rose thought back to the dream she had after her heart episode, "It wasn't my fault. After a few years, I began to notice the corruption of the company, and how things began to deteriorate, from finances to the overall work ethic everyone began to show, or lack thereof." She took a deep breath; she had been spending so long to keep the memories of that horrid place buried. "It was shortly before I noticed the changes that I was tasked of experimenting the effects a human mind would have if it were basically shoved into a disk or chip, like you would for a computer program. During my research, I decided to do my own experiment on the effects of a human mind housing another mind, or an artificial one to be more specific."

Gray glanced over at the chip on the table, "And that's how you came up with that?" Rose nodded. "Fascinating. And the adapter on the back of your neck?"

"It's connected to spine just under the cerebellum and runs up the brain stem. There are wires that run along with the nerves of the spine that help monitor my vitals. He uses the minor pulses from the brain, as well as a small energy source from the device itself to do other functions as well," Rose explained.

"Well that explains quite a bit actually," Gray rubbed his chin. "Hm, and what happened at this place to make you leave so suddenly?"

Rose closed her eyes. "They CEO wasn't happy that I was doing my side projects and demanded that I hand over all of my research. I wasn't using anything of Aperture's for my personal studies so that way I could avoid issues like that, but he still persisted that my research with Wheatley belonged to him. So he had me locked up and took most of my research, but I had a few friends that helped me escape. I didn't dare look back, in case they were ever found out, so I just took what little things I did have, and left. Tried going off the grid."

"Seems you did a very good job," Mann said as he closed the folder. "After you left, there seems to be no virtual trace of your existence."

"That's because I made sure there wouldn't be anything to follow. As soon as I got out I learned how to survive on the land for a bit, but I didn't know much self-defense for protection. Wheatley suggested that I go learn, but I wanted to be trained instead of self taught. The only problem was I didn't have money for a trainer..." Rose continued to speak as she felt around her wrist restraints for a weak point; it was thick leather, but the buckles had to have some sort of weakness in them. "So I went to a small town and made a deal with a local store keep: I would bring in materials from the wild, and he would pay me. While I did that, I went to their local library and taught myself basic fighting techniques while I saved up money."

"And I assume that's how you learned your fighting styles," Gray spoke up. Rose nodded again. "Hmmm, alright then, let's fast forward a bit. I'm getting bored with this whole life-story thing."

Rose gave him a glare but didn't object, not she really could. Suddenly Gray leaned in and was only mere inches from Rose's face. She could see all of the wrinkles and scars that he had gained over the years, and all of the hatred he had in his eyes. "How did you get involved with that she-devil and her idiots she calls mercenaries?"

Rose blinked for a moment, realizing that he was talking about the Administrator and the mercs. Her chest began to burn. "I….crashed in an airplane outside of the compound they were currently defending from you," she said, saltiness in her tone.

Gray smiled lightly, "Ah yes, I remember that. The place where you blew up one of my carriers. As annoying and frustrating as that was, those things aren't cheap you know, I was a bit impressed with how you took it down so easily." Rose remained silent. "Anyways, the real question I would like to know, what is she planning?"

Rose opened her mouth and then paused. She had no clue. She had been with the mercs for months now, and through all manners of adventures and missions, but she never really dug into the Administrator or her secret agenda. "I have no idea," Rose finally said.

Gray just stared at her with a blank expression. "Are you serious?!" His sudden outburst caused Rose to jump a bit. "All of that time there, and you never once dug into any of her files? Anything!?"

"N-no I didn't!" Rose said, getting a bit defensive. Even if she did know anything about the mystery woman, she wouldn't tell anything to him if she could help it. "I only ever met the woman once, and that was when I first arrived at the compound."

"And not once while you were there did you learn anything?" Gray persisted.

"Not anything that would benefit you," she replied.

Gray rubbed the sides of his temples, trying to calm down. "Figures I wouldn't be able to get anything useful like that out of you," he hissed. "But, it doesn't matter. I have a much better plan." He turned back to the table and snapped his fingers.

Suddenly a Heavy-bot appeared behind Rose and grabbed her chair, as if meaning to drag her away. "You know you can't win against them, right?" she said. Gray stopped. "You designed these robots to be exactly like the mercenaries you're trying so hard to fight, so it's just going to be a stale-mate the whole way through."

Mann turned to Rose with a stern expression that slowly grew into an even more sinister grin. "That's why I came up with something better. And to make sure I do win, you're going to make yourself comfortable here for a bit, while I tend to more important matters."

Rose stared at him in surprise, anger rising slightly. "Why don't you just kill me here and now, then?! Why leave any loose ends?" she shouted.

"You care about those….'men,' don't you? Consider them almost family compared to your solitude of a life?" Mann responded. Rose didn't say anything, but she didn't have to for Gray to know that he was right. "Why you would consider any of those barbaric idiots a family is beyond me, but I will enjoy ripping them from your life, tearing away whatever happy ending you were hoping for."

"You're not going to win," Rose repeated with more of threatening tone.

"We'll see about that, Rose," he said as he grabbed for the chip containing her AI. "Take her away."

Before the Heavy-bot could start dragging the chair away, Rose freed her right hand from the strap and shoved her fist right into the robots head through its jaw. She flinched as her hand scrapped across sharp metal and tangled wire, but she didn't let the pain stop her. She grabbed hold of as many wires as she could as the robot reached for her hand and she yanked the wires right out its head. The robot started to malfunction as Rose began to undo the rest of her bindings as quickly as she could, and while she was undoing the other wrist restraint, she saw Gray run behind the desk and pick up a control that was littered with buttons. He pressed one and the room they were in lit up with red emergency lights.

Rose went even faster, now undoing the leg restraints and once she was done she bolted for the desk. "What on Earth do you think you're doing?!" Gray shouted as she jumped onto the desk.

As she got up she grabbed the AI chip and looked at Gray, "Taking my friend back," then she gave Gray a swift kick on the side of face, the force knocking him down to the ground.

"Why you little – you're going to pay for that, you brat!" he hissed.

Rose was about to retort, but before she could open her mouth, a large door to their right opened and a flow of robots flooded through. Rose didn't think twice and jumped off the desk in the opposite direction as the robots began to case her. She didn't dare look back for fear of slowing down, so she looked for an exit. However, as she scanned the room, she didn't come across any noticeable doors. _'Man, where's Wheatley when I – oh wait!'_ she thought, then looked down at her hand that held tightly onto the chip. Rose halted and quickly put the chip in its intended slot in the adapter and could hear the device whir to life. She turned to see a Scout-bot come up withing striking distance with its metal baseball bat and swung at her. Rose brought up her left forearm to block, flinching slightly at the impact, then grabbing the bat, pulling the bot closer to her. She put her right foot on it's chest and kicked it back as she pulled the arm that help the bat.

"I'll take this!" she grunted as she ripped the bat from the bot's hand. The Scout-bot stumbled back then looked down at its now empty hands, unsure of what just happened. When the bot looked back at Rose, she was already in mid swing. The bot had no time to duck out of the way and the bat made contact with its head with so much force in the swing, that Rose ended up knocking its head clean off. "That...was for Wheatley..." she huffed.

"Aww! I didn't know you missed me that much!" she heard a familiar voice said. Wheatley's holograph came up in front of her and she felt so much excitement she almost burst.

"Wheatley!" she shrieked. "Oh my God if I could hug you I would!" Another two Scout-bots were coming up on her left and a Demo-bot was charging at her with a sword on her right. Rose jumped in front of the two Scout-bots, leading the Demo-bot to swing towards her, but she ducked just in time for its blade to slice right through the necks of the two Scout-bots standing right next to Rose, causing their heads to fly off in sparks and parts.

The Demo-bot watched as the two bots slumped to the ground, then looked at Rose who was already running away. There were still more robots following as she ran for an exit. "Wheatley I would love to catch up, but we really need a way out! Like right now, please?" Rose said as she kept running from the horde of bots.

"Right, no time for niceties, got it….um..." he became quiet as he searched. "Well, you're not going to like this, but you have to circle around and go through the giant door that let the murderous horde of robots through."

"Seriously?" she said. Rose looked towards the door and was relieved that there weren't any more bots that were coming through, but she knew she wasn't equipped to fight a massive group like that. Rose gripped the bat as another Scout-bot took another swing at her, stopped only to block then swung back at its leg, breaking the knee-joint. She didn't stay to finish the job and ran towards the door. "Okay, not gonna argue…" she huffed.

"Didn't think you would..." the AI said.

"Oh! I need to get the remote! I can close the door behind me!" Rose looked towards the desk and noticed that Gray Mann had disappeared, along with the folder that help her records from Aperture. "Ngh, I'm going to make sure that old ass-hat gets what's coming to him when I get the chance." Rose headed to the desk, dodging the few Heavy-bots and Scout-bots that jumped towards her as she headed for the desk.

Even though Mann had left, he must have left in a hurry and left the remote he used on the desk. Rose didn't have time to think of why he just left it behind so she just took it up and ran straight for the door, the group of robots still closing behind. She looked at the remote as she ran and tried to remember the button Mann had used to open the door. She pressed the one in the center and then heard gears activating. She looked at the giant door and saw it beginning to close.

"Welp….guess that was the right one," she huffed. Her body started to feel tired from all of the constant running and back of her head started to throb again from all of the adrenaline. "I….have to….keep going..."

"I mean, I'm sure these blokes would love to chat, but not in the way we would like," Wheatley said.

"Heh, wait to crack jokes, please..." Rose asked.

"Oh, yeah sorry..." he apologized.

Rose kept running towards the closing doors, hoping that they would close before the bots caught up to her. Luckily with the pace she was keeping, she was able to pass through the doors with a few extra seconds to spare so she could stop to catch her breath. She turned to see a few Scout-bots try and push past the closing doors but were unfortunately not fast enough as they were crushed between them as they closed. Rose paused, making sure nothing was going to jump out at them.

"You're all clear, Rose," Wheatley said. Relieved, Rose slumped down to the floor, dropping the bat.

"Whew," she huffed. "That...was a work out…." As her adrenaline began to die down, she felt her right hand pulse with pain and looked down. "Oh right. I forgot about that." Her hand was slightly bloodied and when she tried balling it into a fist, a sharp pain shot through.

"Hmm, seems like you have a few metal shards in some of those cuts," Wheatley analyzed. "What in world did you do, shove your fist in a robot's head?"

"Heh, well now that you mention it..." she said, resting her had to her side.

"Dear lord...what am I going to do with you?" he sighed.

"I don't know, half the time I don't even know what to do with myself," she said.

The two became quiet, allowing time for rest so that way Rose could continue. She looked around at her current surroundings; this room was also dimly lit but had a few lights strewn throughout the ceiling, and there was another large door to the left of the one they just came through and a smaller one on the right.

"I sincerely hope we're not on that stupid island again," Rose said as she started to stand up.

"I can't tell where we are exactly, something is interfering with my navigational network," Wheatley added.

"Can yo get a hold on anyone? Miss Pauling or Scout?" she asked. Rose headed towards the smaller door and looked around it for a switch or knob of some sort.

"Hngh I can try but no guarantees," Wheatley said.

While he tried to call out for some help, Rose continued to look around the door. She walked up closer to it and noticed a button to the right of the door. Hoping it would open said door, she pressed it; at first nothing happened and Rose was at a loss at what to do, but then something clicked and the door slowly began to open. A bright light showed through the door at first, almost blinding the mercenary, but after a few seconds of adjustment, Rose was able to see what appeared to be the outside.

"Where in the world are we," she asked herself. "I don't think we're on the island, but I also don't think we are anywhere near the compound either."

"Hmmm, well I can't reach anyone, but there might not be any cellular towers nearby I can hop onto anyways," Wheatley explained. "But I did do a scan of the immediate area once you opened the door and we are on a coastal area. Some private docks to be more specific."

"Huh, that would explain the smell of salt water and the seagulls flying overhead," Rose mentioned. She stepped out of the building a ways and turned. Apparently they were being held in a rather large warehouse of sorts, with antennas scattered on top of the roof. "Well, that explains the interference."

"Hmmm….yes, yes! That's what issue was! Gray was using those to block any signal that wasn't his from leaving the building."

"Guess he thought those bots would stop me," Rose said as she looked down at her hand.

"Seems like it. Though I wouldn't dawdle here, Rose," the AI warned. "Those bots are still there and I can't seem to find the old wrinkly fart anywhere nearby."

"Right," Rose agreed. She started to make her way away from the building, noticing the other warehouses around the docks when she hear an engine near by. "Um, Wheatley?"

"I heard it too, hold on," he instructed. Rose realized she left the metal baseball bat back in the warehouse, but when she turned to go get it she heard the engine noise get closer. "It's a vehicle. And it's heading right for us!"

"Ugh! Can't I get a break!" she groaned. She searched for anything to hide behind or in, but when she finally spotted some creates that could give her cover, a vehicle shot from around the corner of a warehouse that was across the way from the one she just came from and darted straight for her. "Oh dear..." she said as she noticed that they vehicle wasn't slowing down and jumped out of the way just in time before it zipped right past her and came to a screeching halt, kicking up the dirt and gravel behind it.

Rose landed on the ground, coughing and waving the dirt out of her face. She looked at the vehicle that passed by her, noticing that it was a truck. She was suddenly filled with relief as the dust settled to reveal that it was Engineer's pickup truck. As she got up the passenger door swung open to reveal Miss Pauling jumping out and looking around with a panicked look. Her eyes landed on Rose, who was dusting off the dirt her shirt and pants and gasped.

"Rose! Oh thank goodness you're alright!" the assistant ran towards her, trying to help her dust off the dirt.

"Heh, hiya Miss Pauling," Rose smiled at Pauling, then looked at the truck to see Engineer and Spy make their way towards them. "And Engineer and Spy."

"Glad we could find ya, miss!" the Texan greeted, giving Rose a pat on the shoulder.

"Yeah, um, not meaning to point out the obvious, but how did you guys find me?" Rose asked?

"Well, remember when you basically died?" Pauling asked, a bit blunt.

"Um...yeah? Kinda hard to forget almost dying," Rose said.

"Well I had Medic install a tracker chip in your new heart in case anything happened," the assistant explained.

Rose's expression went from relieved to stern. "What?"

"After the initial attacks from Gray on you personally, I figured it would be a good idea to have one installed," Pauling said. Rose could feel there was an underlying reasoning and she could guess what it was, but before she could say anything, the back of her head started throbbing again, and she flinched at the pain.

"Are you okay, Rose?" Spy spoke up.

"Um, I'm not entirely sure, my head hurts pretty bad," she said, rubbing where the pain was.

"You seem to have a minor concussion, aside from the abrasions on your hand," Wheatley went on to explain.

"Oh great. No sleeping for me then," Rose sighed. "So, wait, when did you guys notice I was missing?"

"Spy was actually the one that noticed first," Miss Pauling said, motioning over to the masked merc. "Everyone was busy doing something and he had come to me to ask where you had gone."

"I was going to ask for a sparring match, so I asked Miss Pauling, and she had said she sent you to town," Spy jumped in.

"Let me guess, you asked when, Pauling realized I was gone for too long and that's when you guys went out to look for me, right?" Rose finished.

The two nodded. "I went to go get Engineer for his spare set of keys in case something did happen, and we could get the truck," the assistant continued.

"Got it. And I assume you got worried, too?" Rose turned to the Texan.

"Yes ma'am. When Miss Pauling here said you hadn't come back yet, I reckoned with yer luck you mighta' gotten into some trouble," he said. "Plus, you did take my truck."

"Heh, yeah...sorry about that. I figured it would be the better vehicle to get the stuff Pauling wanted."

"Naw, don't worry about it, miss," Engineer shrugged. "But I do reckon we outta get you back to see the doc, pronto."

"I couldn't agree more," Wheatley spoke up. "That head injury isn't going to heal itself."

"And when you're all patched up, we can go over what happened," Pauling said.

Rose simply nodded and headed towards the truck. She wanted to sit in the back, saying that the air flow would help keep her awake, but Pauling insisted that Spy sit with her to keep and eye on her for safety. They group then piled up in the truck and headed back to base, which was a good long few hours.

As they drove, Rose couldn't help but let her mind wander to the whole interrogation with Gray. How did he get her files? Rose's mind slipped into deep thought about Aperture, and her time there, though most of it was a tad bit fuzzy. She remembered the dream she had while she was technically dead, and tried to remember other things that had happened, but at the same time she didn't want to remember. She didn't want to remember the things she put all of those test subjects through. She didn't want to remember all of the things _they_ put her through. Rose just simply wanted to move on.

 **Heya guys! Hope you like the story so far, and thanks for all of your support, too! As usual, if you'd like leave a review!**


	27. Defensive

**A.N.: Hey everyone! Sorry for the really long update, long story short life got in the way, but hopefully things will be getting back to normal! Also, sorry for the short chapter, but again things should be getting back on track. So here is the next chapter and enjoy! And thanks for you support and patience!**

The Tenth Class

Chapter 27: Defensive

"Wheatley, bring up Dojo1" Rose said.

"Right'o!" the AI responded with a chipper tone.

Rose was standing in the VR simulation training room as it began to take on a new form from its plain white-panel scene. She wanted to focus of more of her own hand-to-hand combat skills and techniques since she was kidnapped two days ago by Gray Mann. Since she returned, and after being patched up by Medic and went over the whole thing with Miss Pauling, she wanted to really focus on training up herself, and, if they were up for it, the other mercs.

She had spent the past two days using what money she had earned to get upgradable parts to the VR room so Wheatley could run the room independently and they could code in holographic enemies. The parts she looked for weren't cheap and Pauling had a bit of rejection, but luckily Rose was able to persuade the assistant to let her get them and worked on the upgrades in Engineer's workshop.

The room morphed into a simplistic traditional training Japanese training dojo, with beige padded flooring and wooden walls with the traditional doors and windows. "Alrighty, friend," Rose began. "Begin training level one."

"Of course!" Wheatley chirped.

Suddenly a black shadowy figure appeared a few feet in front of her, standing completely still, as if waiting for a command. Rose took her normal fighting stance, legs shoulder-width apart, her right leg forward and knee bent, her left leg behind. She brought her arms up, hands balled into fists and her back straight. She took three deep breaths before she said, "Start."

The black figure then went into its own fighting stance and then took a charge at her quickly closing the gap. Rose braced herself for the first strikes, the figure sending its left fist into a flying side-hook and Rose bringing up her right forearm to block. The block was successful and Rose decided it was her turn to strike.

With her right arm blocking, she quickly grabbed hold of the figure's left arm, pulling it closer to her as she sent her own left fist straight into the figure's gut. The black figure took the hit like an actual person would and bent down slightly as Rose let go of its arm, going back into her initial fighting stance, this time her feet being switched. The figure quickly recovered and sent it's right fist flying through the air towards her face, but Rose blocked it again with her left forearm.

Rose then grabbed this arm, but instead of punching the opponent, she took hold of it with her free hand and swept her right leg from behind her and knocking out it's leg right from under it. Once the figure was caught off balance, she used her upper body strength to pull the opponent down to the ground with force. Once it was down, Rose let go, took a step back and then curb-stomped the figures neck, rendering it defeated.

The holographic figure then disappeared and Whealtey's voice came over the speakers, "Nice job, Rose! Nice form and technique, although I don't think you needed to add that last part..." he said.

"I did...needed to let out a little frustration was all," she explained. "What was the time on that?"

"Oh, um...4 minutes and 37 seconds," he replied.

"Hm, let's do it again. This time, just a smidge faster," Rose asked.

"Can do. Anything else?"

"Mmm, nope."

"Got it."

After a few seconds of silence, another holographic black figure appeared in front of Rose, the same distance from the last. Rose went into her stance, and muttered "Start," and the figure did the same as before. Rose went through the same motions as before, but this time with a tad bit more speed and agility, finishing the simulation just a bit sooner. At the end, however, she did not curb-stomp this hologram, feeling it would be a bit overkill.

She wen on to do the same exercise for about 10 more minutes, allowing herself to become accustom to different forms of take-downs and then decided it was time to move on.

"Wheatley, end training level one," Rose instructed, feeling out of breath.

"Break time I assume?" he asked as the room changed back to it's original white panels.

"Yeah, just five minutes, then we'll start back up," she went on. Rose made her way out of the training room and went over to the mini-fridge that was on the far side of the garage.

She opened up the door and took one of the bottles of water that was on the door and started to chug half the bottle. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone coming towards her from the stairs. It was Medic.

"Oh, heya doc," she greeted with a smile.

"Hallo fräulein, a how are you feeling zhis morning," he asked.

"I suppose I'm alright. Still a little miffed at what happened, but I'm doing better," she replied.

"Zhat's good to here! I vas vondering, however, if you would like to participate on some experiments vith me later today. I still have somezhing I vould like to show you, and I think you'll like it," he said.

"Heh, yeah. I think I will, I need something to distract me from all of this anyways," she said, putting the half finished water bottle back in the fridge.

"Ausgezeichnet! Just come up to zhe medical bay vhen you are ready!" the German said with a smile. "Oh hoho I cannot vait to show you vhat I have been vorking on!"

Medic quickly dashed back up the stairs, leaving Rose to assume that he was getting everything prepped up for whatever it was he wanted to show her. She looked back at the door leading to the training room, and a flash back to Gray standing right in front her came across her mind. She was suddenly angry, and more than she should have been.

Rose walked back to the training room, picking up her blades that were sitting on the table just outside of the door, and walked in, deciding to let off some more steam.

"Wheatley?" she spoke up.

"Hm?" he said over the intercom of the room.

"Can you please bring up the same room, but this time level 5 training?" she asked calmly.

"Really? Level 5 already? But I thought you wanted -" he cut himself short. "Oh...I see. I'll get it set up."

"Thanks," she replied.

The room shifted again to the same room Rose was in before and once everything was settled Wheatley propped up a holographic enemy in front of her, just as before. Rose stared at it, thinking about her interaction with Gray, all the way up to the rescue, then she remembered that she had a tracker planted inside of her. A way for someone else to keep tabs on her at all times. Another person trying to tell her what to do and how to do it. If not yet, then she knows they will soon.

Anger began to slowly rise and she gripped the handles of her swords, glaring at the hologram. "Start."

Within seconds the figure charged at her, quickly closing the gap between it's right fist cocked back ready to fight. Rose calmly moved to the side just in time for her to miss the punch that was aimed right for her face and quickly ducked down to do a leg sweep on the hologram. The figure fell to the floor on its back and Rose stood up, held both of her swords in a reverse grip above her head and brought them down on the hologram's torso before the figure had a chance to get up. She quickly brought out the blades, and stepped back as the figure glitched and stood up, ready for another go around.

Rose held her blades up in a defensive position, still in reverse grip and waited for the figure to make another attack. As if by cue, the hologram charged at her again and sent its left fist charging at her abdomen, but Rose blocked the attack with one of her blades. The figure brought its fist back then sent its right leg to her knee, trying to take out her balance. Rose stepped back and the figure missed, allowing Rose an opening to send her right blade slashing at her opponents throat. The figure ducked back, the blade barely missing, then grabbed her wrist and was about to send its other fist into her elbow, trying to at least damage it enough to where she couldn't use her arm. As if by instinct, however, Rose forced her captured right arm to pull upward, causing the figure to miss its intended target and with her blade still in a reverse grip, cut right through its holographic forearm.

She was free again, but because the figure was nothing but a hologram, it continued to attack, unaware that it lost what would have been a left hand. The figure grabbed her left hand and pulled her in, sending its left knee into her stomach. Rose coughed out in pain, not really expecting that much force from a training hologram, but then quickly recovered enough to send her free blade into what would have been the figure's sternum. A brief moment passed as the two stood completely still, then for a brief moment Rose saw a face flash across the holograms face, and with rage suddenly filling her body, she forcibly yanked her blade out and use it to slice her other hand free. Without hesitation, she placed her blades into the figure's abdomen once again.

"NnnnnnnaaaaaaAAAAAHHHHHH!" she yelled with anger and frustration as she one by one stabbed the hologram repeatedly, forcing it back as she went. They made it about six feet or so when she shoved both blades in once more, turned them and yanked them upwards.

The holographic figure flew back from the force, and landed on the ground. Rose stood over the figure, panting from the energy she just exhausted and gripping blades. The hologram disappeared and the room changed back to its white paneling as she began to recompose herself.

"Are you...are you feeling okay, Rose?" Wheatley asked after a moment of silence.

Rose sheathed her blades and took a deep breath, "Yeah….I think I really needed that," she huffed. She walked over to the console to remove Wheatley, put him back in his original place and made her way out of the simulation.

"What? Are we done already?" Wheatley asked.

"Yup," she said curtly as she walked up the stairs of the garage.

"Are you -"

"Yes. I just…." she paused. "I'm just tired..."

"I suppose," the AI said, leaving the conversation to rest.

Rose walked back quietly to the medical bay and as soon as she entered was greeted by a single rectangular block of metal and wires on the surgical bed. She looked around and tried to find Medic but the doctor was no where in sight, so decided to get closer to get a better look; as she approached she noticed that the device had a red tube on it's side and what appeared to be a metal cautioned-painted door on the top, along with a handle on one side and a few more small gadgets on the sides. Rose was closely looking at it when the doors to her's and Medic's room burst open.

"Rose! I'm so glad you came!" the German shouted with an enthusiastic look on his face.

Rose on the other hand had just about jumped out of her skin with him coming into the room so unannounced. "AAAHHH! Medic! What the hell?!" she shouted, grabbing her chest as if her heart was about to leap out.

"Vhat? Oh! Did I startle you? Haha! You must be more on your feet, fräulein!" he chuckled as he made his way over to her.

She just glared at him while he walked over and gave herself a moment to regain herself. "So...what is this, exactly?" she asked, finally calmed down.

"Zhis," he motioned towards the device, "is zhe Reanimator."

Rose paused for a moment, and looked at the device, then back at him, "So….this little box…?"

"Can bring you back from zhe dead, yes!" A look came across his face, a crazed-doctor look almost.

"Wait….how did….how can it…?" Rose was trying to find the right words.

"What, mate?" Wheatley spoke up.

"Yeah, what he said," she chimed.

"Oh vell it begins vith the device itself collecting you bilogical structure and -" he began.

"ROSE!" Soldier burst through the door, making Rose and Medic jump.

"What the hell is it, Soldier?!" Rose snapped, still a bit on edge from her training from earlier.

Soldier point to her, "You. Me. Training," he grinned.

Rose blinked for a second, figuring what to say, "Soldier, I just got done with some training of my own, and..."

"NO EXCUSES!" he snapped. Rose was caught off guard by the burst. "Excuses are for the weak and girly!"

Rose's went from surprise to seriousness as she began to stare down the old war dog from under the bill of her hat. "Did you just call me 'girly'?" she asked.

"Oh no..." Wheatley sighed. "Here we go again."

"Maybe I did," Soldier crossed his arms, still grinning. "What are you gonna do about it, sister?"

"Oh it's on," Rose met Soldier's grin. "Medic, hold off on the lecture while I teach this so -called 'soldier' a lesson on some proper ass-whooping."

Soldier gave a hearty laugh and bolted out of the medical bay, making his way towards the training room. Rose turned to Medic, who just gave a playful shrug and went to grab his medi-gun. Rose began to walk out of the medical bay herself and almost ran right into Miss Pauling, who looked like she was looking for her.

"Oh! Hey Pauling!" Rose said, almost apologetic since she almost knocked whatever papers Miss Pauling had in her arms.

"Rose! Hey I've been needing to see you," the assistant said as she adjusted her glasses. "I've been needing to go over the defense designs for the compound with you and Engineer said he had a few ideas as well that we could try and work in."

"Oh! That sounds awesome! But hey, I'm gonna have to get back to you in just a few minutes. I'm about to have another training session with Soldier, Rose explained.

"O-oh yeah! Heh sure thing, just make sure to come find me when you are done, okay?" Miss Pauling asked.

"Yeah, sure thing!" Rose said. With a wave goodbye, Rose was gone once again as she headed down to the training room where her opponent was waiting.

* * *

"Alright, just hand-to-hand, remember Soldier?" Rose said as her and her fellow mercenary were standing in the center of the VR room.

Rose already had inserted Wheatley back into the console and Medic awaited standby in case anything got out of hand. The only other one watching was Sniper, who just so happened to be getting something from the fridge in the garage and decided to stick around for the session.

"Affirmative! It'll just be you, me, and these two magnificent bastards," Soldier said as he held up his fists.

"Sounds good to me," Rose said, assuming her fighting stance she used during her earlier training. "Alright Wheatley, dealers choice on the area. Go."

"Oooooh! I love it when you let me choose!" the AI happily responded.

Everyone remained patiently quiet for something to happen when the room began to change and take shape. It began to grow a bit wider and the lights began to dim a bit as ammo crates and building materials took form around them. As the room came together, Rose noted that it seemed to be a small warehouse room of sorts, looking around and noticing a few supply crates and as well. After a few short moments the area was fully made, Rose's assumption was correct; the room they were put in was a simple and small warehouse room, with just a few crates and boxes with scrap parts scattered near the walls.

Rose remained in her fighting stance and Soldier began to fidget with anticipation. "Alright, the simulation will begin in 3...2...1...GO!" Wheatley said.

Without hesitation, Soldier charged forward at Rose, bringing his right fist back for a full swing down on her chest. Rose, however, remained still and calm, waiting. Soldier quickly closed the gap between them and swung, but Rose's reflexes were just a bit faster. She ducked down and sent her own right fist straight into his stomach with as much force as she could muster. The initial blow caught Soldier off guard, as he staggered back a bit and tried to catch his breath, but Rose wasn't going to let up easily. She took the moment to swing her right foot straight up, hitting Soldier straight in the jaw.

"AGHH! Sonofa-" Soldier began to curse at the pain, then decided to ignore the pain and charged at her again.

This time he sent his left fist flying for her center mass and she quickly side-stepped to the left and grabbed his arm as he passed by her. Without a second thought she twisted the mercenary's arm and stepped behind him, still gripping his arm. She then kicked in his right knee which brought him down. As a final move she place her own knee into his back and used all of her weight to force him to the ground. She was able to hold him down for a few brief moments as he cursed under his breath.

"You gonna call me girly again?" Rose asked, still holding tightly to his arm behind his back.

"NGH! HAHAHA! You got spunk, lady!" Soldier grunted. "Makes me almost feel sorry for beating up a girl!"

"Solider, don't you-" but before she could finish her sentence Soldier gathered up the strength to push himself up and knock Rose off her back.

Before she knew it, Rose was being pinned down on her back, Soldier grabbing both of her wrists before she had a chance to push him off. Rose underestimated his physical strength, and now she was pinned down to the ground.

"HA! Spunk can only take you too far!" He gloated.

Rose took a quick assessment of her situation and an idea occurred to her. "Maybe, but it does teach you when you need to play dirty," she sneered. A confused look came across his face and before he could ask, Rose jetted up her knee right into Soldier's groin.

A sharp pain shot through the war dog's whole body as he went limp from the excruciating pain. He cupped his groin and Rose pushed him off and pushed herself up. "Sorry man. I just don't like being called girly," she said, as she dusted herself off. The room changed back at her sudden win and she held her hand down to help up her fallen teammate.

Soldier looked up slowly, still grimacing from the pain. He reached out and took her hand as she pulled him up and looked at Medic, nodding to come over and heal him.

"Geez mate, that's a bit cheap, don'tcha think?" Sniper said, entering the room.

"Maybe. I wasn't expecting it to take a turn like that, and that was my own fault. I misjudged Soldier's strength comparative to mine, so I kinda put myself in that position," she explained, still feeling a pang of guilt. She turned to Soldier, "I'm sorry it went that way, Soldier."

"HAH! Are you kidding! There's no room for 'sorry' in the art of war!" Soldier shouted, raising a fist.

"Zhere. You should be fine now," Medic said, turning off his medi-gun.

"Thanks doc," the war dog thanked.

"Hey, Soldier, if you're up for it and since we're still here, I don't suppose you could help me with some co-op training, would you?" Rose asked. "We haven't had any simulations yet were we fought together, so why not start now?"

"That sounds like such a great idea that I'm glad I thought of it!" Soldier grinned. Rose gave Medic a confuse look and he just waved it off.

"Wait, how do you expect to do that?" Sniper asked. "I thought ya hadn't upgraded this tech stuff yet."

"That's what I've been doing since...well, that's what I've been doing these past two days," Rose said.

"So, we're still doing training then?" Wheatley asked.

"Yup! Prep up a capture intelligence mission, but something small," Rose instructed.

"You got it!" Wheatley chirped.

Everyone got to their places and waited for the room to change again, ready to start the first co-op training session.


	28. Change in Management

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the long update but here is the next chapter! Hope you guys enjoy! Also, thank all of you for your support so far! I really enjoy writing this and plan to pick up on my other story soon! Anyways, here ya go! :)**

The Tenth Class

Chapter 28: Change of Management

"ON YOUR LEFT!" Solider shouted to Rose.

The freelancer swung her left butterfly sword just in time to slash through a holographic enemy, causing it to disappear. "Thanks!" Rose said as her and Soldier continued to defend the capture point.

The area they were defending was on a bridge in the middle of a train shipping yard with lots of rocks around the surrounding area and wooden structures. The point itself seemed to be placed directly on some railroad tracks in between two train carts that had cardboard boxes on them. The two had been capturing and holding a point for the last hour or so, holding off holographic enemies that came to try and take them down. Rose believed that they were working pretty well together. Soldier brought up his shotgun and shot down three more enemies that were charging their way up to the point as Rose threw one of her swords into the chest of another, and yanked it back with the attached chain as the figure disappeared.

Rose turned around to check on Soldier just in time to see him become a bit overwhelmed from at least three more enemies. "Soldier!" she shouted, then ran over to help.

He was being tackled by three of the dark holographic enemies who were trying to drag him off the cap point. "YOU'LL NEVER HAVE THIS POINT! YOU MAGGOTS WILL HAVE TO PRY MY COLD, DEAD BODY OFF THIS POINT!" the old war dog scream, impressively holding his own. Rose ran over and tackled one of the enemies off of Soldier as it was pulling on his arm. As she tackled it, she brought up one of her blades and stuck the figure square in the chest, and the figured disappeared. She got up and turned to help her teammate more when another figure flew right past her. She watched the enemy fall to the ground and disappear, then turned back just in time to watch Soldier snap the neck of the third.

"HUTTAH!" he shouted. The figure then slumped to the floor and disappeared.

Rose gave her teammate a smile and looked around. There were no more enemies to contend with that she could see, but she knew Wheatley wouldn't give them something that easy, especially when she asked for it to be harder near the end. There was a quiet stillness for a moment. All of a sudden, dark holographic figures began to spawn all around the capture point.

"Oh man..." Rose sighed, now standing back to back with Soldier.

"HA! This is nothing! You think this will be tough, computer man! I've seen rubber duckies that looked tougher than this!" Soldier shouted above him.

"Don't worry, guys, you will certainly have your workout after this batch!" Wheatley sneered, his voice coming from an unknown location.

Rose held a butterfly sword in her left hand an equipped her pistol in her right, and took aim. Soldier brought up his Rocket Launcher as the two prepared for the inevitable fight for the control point. Without warning, the figures started to attack from both sides; Rose was able to shoot down at least three of them before they were almost on top of her, so she quickly holstered her weapon and grabbed her other sword and began to hold off the oncoming enemy. Soldier had been able to blow up a good portion with his four rockets, and made a hole in the enemy line that was approaching, but when it came time to reload, he didn't have enough time and decided it would be a good time to pull out his shotgun again.

Rose was able to handle her own and giver herself some breathing room and had enough to see out of the corner of her eye that Soldier was about to have a lot more enemies. She quickly ducked under Soldier's firing and launched one of her blades and hit a target and quickly yanked it back. Turning back in time to face her own enemies, Rose brought up her blades to block an oncoming punch, then slashed at the figures arm. As she was dealing with that one, another one was coming up on her right, but she didn't have enough time to react.

Fortunately for her Soldier had just gotten done reloading his shotgun and fired his first shot at her attacker, then turned his attention back to his side. She grinned, knowing the unspoken gesture of her teammate, and refocused on the matter at hand.

They fought like this for at least a good several minutes before they finally began to wain down the numbers of their enemies. But, Rose could feel her muscles screaming at her, and started to become exhausted as she sliced through a few more of the holographic enemies. She saw Soldier out of the corner of her eye, his motions slowing down as well, but he didn't let that stop him. He still fought with determination, and Rose wondered if he remembered if this was a simulation or not. Then it dawned on her that that shouldn't matter, that they were in a battle regardless of whether or not its a simulation and she should be treating it as such. That's why they're doing this in the first place.

Rose cut through two more enemies, and waited for more to come her way, swords poised at the ready, but none came. She looked around on the bridge and noticed that Soldier was also free of any enemies. The old war dog was breathing heavily and looked back at Rose, who gave him a faint smile. He smiled back.

"I….I think we did it," Rose huffed. She relaxed.

"HOORAH!" Soldier yelled, raising his fold-able spade shovel in the air. Rose looked down at the point that they had succeeded in holding and saw his rocket launcher and shotgun on the ground, presumably empty.

Before Rose could congratulate her teammate, the area began to change back into the familiar white-paneled room. Rose looked towards the console and saw Medic accessing the controls and heard Wheatley giving instructions on various things. She turned her attention back to Soldier.

"Heh, that was an amazing job there, Soldier," she smiled. "Couldn't have succeeded without you."

Soldier grinned. "BAH! These sissies didn't stand a chance against the raw, unadulterated power of American justice!" he bolstered.

"That was actually a bit impressive, freunde," Medic was walking towards them, Wheatley in hand. He walked up to Rose and handed her the chip, which she then promptly inserted in the device on the back of her neck.

"So ah – vhat now?" the doctor asked.

Rose thought for a moment, then remembered something. "Oh! I need to go talk to Pauling and Engineer about getting some other defenses put up around the compound," she mentioned. She began to walk to the door of the simulation room, hearing the shuffling of Soldier picking up his empty weapons. As she made it out the door she turned to the stairs just in time to see Miss Pauling practically flying down the stairs.

"Whoa whoa, where's the fire, Pauling?" Rose paused, "Wait, did Pyro set another fire in the recreation room?"  
"What? No! No, no, no, something bad has happened. Very bad!" the assistant huffed. Miss Pauling turned to the television that was sitting on the counter a few feet from the fridge and turned it on.

Before Rose could ask what was going on the other mercs were coming down the stairs and they gathered around the television. Rose looked back to the screen and noticed the area on it immediately; it was the desk of Saxton Hale. The only difference was that his chair was facing away from the camera that had apparently been placed in front of his desk. Rose felt a sudden chill run down her spy as she stared at the screen, almost knowing what they were going to see next.

After a moment of silence, the chair swiveled too reveal what she was worried about. The whole group went silent and she could feel the anger rising. Gray Mann looked at her – at them – from behind Saxton Hale's desk. He looked into the camera with a devilish grin. _He won,_ she thought to herself. _That was his plan the whole time._

"Hello everyone," Gray began. Rose flinched at the sound of his voice, it grating in her ears. "I'm sure you are all wondering what happened to your previous employer. Well, simply put, I won and he lost. And now…." he paused for a moment. "You're all fired."

The television went blank and the group was left with nothing bu their reflections on the screen.

* * *

"Wait! We can't just give up like that!" Rose shouted. "We have to fight back!"

"And how do you propose we do zhat?" Spy responded, clearing out his locker, along with the others. "We aren't going up against armies of robots now. Now it's just over."

"He's right miss," Engineer said, slowly removing his hard hat. "There just ain't no use fightin' anymore."

Rose wanted to argue, but when she opened her mouth, she couldn't say anything. They were right. They couldn't do anything, it was over. Rose looked down at the ground and tried to figure something to say.

"Look," Engineer walked on over and placed a hand on her shoulder, "I know this is, well, difficult, but it happens. All we can do know is move on."

Rose looked at him. Even though he was wearing his welding goggles, she could tell this wasn't any good for him either. "Right," she mumbled.

Rose looked around to the rest of the group and wanted to try and fight back, but she knew that there wasn't anything she could do. If they didn't want to fight, or see any point, then she wasn't going to try and force them. Reluctantly, she started to walk back to the medical bay to start packing. She got to the main hallway and then a thought occurred; she hadn't seen Miss Pauling since the news straight from Gray.

"Wheatey?" she asked.

"Hm?" the AI responded.

"Do you know where Pauling went to? I haven't seen her since the garage," Rose continued walking.

"Hm...no I haven't. If anything, she might have gone to warn the Administrator," Wheatley answered.

"Probably."

Rose walked through the doors of the medical bay and noticed that most of the medical equipment and supplies were in boxes already, or at least scattered throughout the area. She went over to the doors to her room and walked through. She saw Medic gently petting Archimedes on his head, but his head perked up at hearing the doors open. He saw Rose standing past the doors and the dove in his hand flew over to her and landed on her shoulder.

"So….this is it, huh?" Rose said, after a quiet moment.

"Ah, yes. I suppose it is," Medic smiled.

"You seem awfully happy about being fired," Rose stated as she went over to her bed and grabbed her old suit case out from under her bed.

"Ve are mercenaries, Rose. It's not uncommon for people like us to lose a contract like Saxton Hale," Medic explained, going back to his packing.

"Yeah, but...you guys fought him for a while. You guys spent so much time and effort holding him back. And now this? Just giving it all up like it was nothing?" she said. Rose could feel sadness in her heart, and her eyes beginning to water. "I was just starting to get used to all of this..."

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Medic. "Rose, it's fine. I already have my application out zhere and with my medical profession and experience, it won't be hard to find another job. Plus, baboon uterus' don't pay for zhemselves you know."

"Wait, I thought you lost your medical license due to some mishap with a patient a while back?" Wheatley inquired.

"Ahem, yes zhat is true, but you vould be surprised how many people overlook zhat detail when zhey are in need of someone of my expertise," the doctor said as he stood like he was someone of note.

"Heh, yeah I'm sure someone would love to hire a mad doctor with a fetish for baboon organs," Rose teased. She began to load up the things in her nightstand in her suitcase.

"I vill have you know zhat zhey are very resistant to many forms of diseases!" Medic retorted. "But...I digress."

"At least you'll have something to go to," Rose said softly. "I can't even go back to Aperture. And I have no idea how long it'll be until I come across another contract of any sort."

"Rose," Medic said, "Come vith me."

"What?" Rose paused and looked over to him.

"I said come vith me. Our genius combined could open so many doors!" he walked over and place his hands on her shoulders. "Just imagine all of zhe creations ve could make! All of zhe medical breakthroughs and discoveries! All ve vould need is one good contract and ve could live like….well, at least like really important people. I don't zhink ve could live like royalty, no, no, no. Much to posh, but -"

"Medic..." Rose cut him off. He paused and looked at her. She was on the verge of crying. "I...I appreciate the offer, really. But..." She took a deep breath, and wiped her eyes and was quiet for a moment. "I think I'm a little hungry," she finally said with a faint smile. "All of that training this morning, and all this. I could go for some food right about now."

Medic smiled and brought his arms back to his sides. "Vell, hurry and get your zhings. Zhen ve can go and get some lunch," he said, turning back to his things.

Rose nodded and went back to packing her things, thinking hard on what he had said.

* * *

[ _Three Months Later_ ]

"Are you sure this is the spot, Wheatley?" Rose asked, standing in front of an outhouse in an open field.

"According to all the information we gathered at the last location, this is supposed to be an emergency hatch that can take us directly down into the heart of the facility, and lower," Wheatley explained.

"Wait, lower?" Rose slowly opened the door to the fake outhouse and saw a metal hatch that and knelt in front of it.

"Yes. Apparently the facility as a whole had grown a lot. A LOT, since we were last here," he went on.

Rose was pulling out one of her swords and clicked the button on the hilt that had the electricity symbol on it. The blade then buzzed with energy and Rose found a power box next to the hatch that indicated that it was powered by said box for opening and closing. She went over and stabbed the box with her sword and overloaded the power box. The end result was a rather loud explosion and a click of the hatch as it opened to a dark hole that lead deep underground.

"Hmmm," Rose thought. "I wonder how we're going to get down there?"

"That's an excellent question. Too bad I don't have an answer," the AI replied.

Rose continued to look down the hole. _Maybe I can use my blades with the chain and grapple my way down,_ she thought. Figuring that there wasn't any other way down, she began her descent into the dark hole, despite Wheatley's slight protests. She made sure her blade was secure enough to support her weight and that she would be able to juggle it free when she needed to. Luckily for her the hole was wide enough for her to be able to push her back against as she climbed down.

She went down, and down, and further down. Rose continued on the way down, unsure of when the tube would end, or what she would find. She continued her dark descent as she passed empty room, after empty room, wondering what had happened to everyone.

"Wheatley, are you reading any signs of anyone here?" she asked as she carefully continued her way down.

"Not that I can tell..." he said, almost unsure. "There are faint energy signatures throughout the area, but none really life-like."

"Almost as if this place -huff- was abandoned," Rose said as she continued on her way down. The air was getting a bit more shallow, but she could hear faint humming throughout the whole facility. Almost as if the whole place, was alive.

"Y'now, this would've been a bit easier with a bit more help..." he mentioned.

"Stop," Rose halted.

"But..."

"No. I don't want to hear it," she said.

"Well...fine Miss Touchy," Wheatley retorted.

"I'm sorry...I just," she went on climbing down.

"No, no. You're fine, Rose. I understand. Tired to ease the tension is all," he said.

"Thanks."

The two were mostly quiet from there on, making note of the empty rooms as Rose carefully made her way down the tube. After about thirteen more minutes of climbing downwards through the tube, however, the rooms began to look nicer...almost purposefully kept up. At one point, Rose stopped and looked around a fully pristine room with white panels and two circular doorways, one an exit and the other an entrance. The whole area looked like some sort of puzzle room, with platforms and a white cube on one of them. And that's when it dawned on her; this was a testing chamber. Suddenly her mind was flustered with flashbacks of her time here.

Rose was stuck, unable to move, unable to speak. She couldn't help but think of all the people she helped go through the machinations of this tortuous facility.

"Rose?" she heard a voice call out to her, but it sounded like it was so far away. "Hey, Rose? Are you okay?" It was Wheatley.

"Huh?" she finally said, blinking as if she had just come out of a trance.

"I asked if you are okay," he repeated. "You seemed a little zoned out, and a bit on edge, according to your heart pulses."

"Oh – uh – yeah. I'm okay now," she said. She was hesitant about her response, but it was true. Rose decided it best to move on, so she continued downward in the tube, slightly curious to seeing what she might find. Hopefully answers.

* * *

Rose walked carefully though the doors that led to an empty lobby. As she entered, she saw that it hadn't been used for years. The place felt empty. Abandoned.

"This.." she trailed off, "This place...I can't believe it."

"Can't believe what?" Wheatley asked.

"I can't believe it's all gone..." Rose was suddenly overwhelmed with sadness. An unexpected tear fell from her eye, and she subconsciously wiped it away as she continued through the lobby.

"It has been a while since we left here," Wheatley said. "What, like five or six years?"

"I guess..." Rose said. She was too busy remembering what the feelings she had were when she first walked this lobby.

 _'_ _Well I must say I am very impressed by your resume, Miss...'_

 _'Just Rose is fine,' the young woman smiled to the older gentleman conducting the interview. He returned the smile in due._

 _'Very well then, Ms. Rose. I believe I speak on behalf of all Aperture Science when I say that we would be more than honored to have someone of such high test score standards and GPA joining us!' the gentleman grinned, holding up a folder of her education transcripts._

 _Rose had been working incredibly hard at her education to enter Aperture Science as a Neurological Engineer. She was sitting across from a desk that was sitting just inside of another room adjacent to the lobby she was sitting in moments prior._

 _Rose's heart skipped a beat as he said those words. 'Does….does that mean I have the job?' she asked with a twinkle of hope in her eyes._

 _'You bet your bottom dollar you do!' the man said with a boastful smile. He was an older man, Rose guessed somewhere in his early 50's, but he looked like he had the energy of a 30-year-old._

 _'Oh thank you so much, sir! I promise I won't let you down!' she gle_ _a_ _med._

 _'I know you won't! Caroline?' as he asked, a young woman_ _in about her mid-to-late 30's or so with long black hair and a white dress came through the door._

 _'Yes, sir?' she asked with a smile and patient voice._

 _'Please see to it that Ms. Rose is settled in properly to her new work place, will you?' the man asked, handing the lady her files._

 _'Right away, Mr. Johnson!' she smiled. 'Right this way if you please.'_

 _That day was the first day of working in a place that Rose thought was bigger than she was. A place that she thought was helping the world, one test at a time._

 _She couldn't have been more wrong._

"Rose?" a voice said, snapping her back in the present. "Rose are you okay? You blanked out there for a minute..."

Wheatley.

"Huh...um? Yeah! Yeah, I'm fine. It's...fine," she said, shaking her head.

"Uh, are you sure? 'Cause you've been looking at that same picture for the last fifteen minutes," he stated.

She looked up and saw that he was right about the picture. It was of a man, around his 50's and a woman close to her 40's, the man dressed in a tan suit with a weird looking tie, and the woman, wearing a white dress, with a red ascot around her neck with her long, black hair down.

"I...um. It's just...been a while since I've seen them," she said finally.

"I know," Wheatley said. "I know."


	29. Come Back Stronger

The Tenth Class

Chapter 29: Come Back Stronger

 _[Three months later]_

"Hey there pretty lady." Rose snapped her head up from staring at her glass. She turned to see a muscle-bound biker standing next to her, uncomfortably close.

She eyeballed him almost sizing him up; he was a bald man with brown goatee that showed a few gray hairs showing. He wore a black leather biker vest with a few patches signifying what MC he was in, and wore dark blue jeans with a chain for a belt to hold them up.

"Can I help you, sir?" she said as politely as she could.

"Oh, sir is my daddy," he said, breath wreaking of alcohol. "You can call me Butch, little lady. Or, heh, daddy if you'd prefer."

He was obviously drunk, and Rose remembered why she hated coming to this bar for contracts, but the owner, Bill, had been her contact before she had joined up with the mercenaries of Mann Co. and she trusted him. Just not his patrons.

"Look, Butch was it? I'm kinda not in the mood to deal with...whatever it is you're trying to do," she looked back at her glass, lowering her gray camouflage baseball cap. "I would just like to enjoy my drink in peace, if you don't mind."

The man grabbed her right arm and squeezed. Rose didn't look at him. "Well I do mind, woman. You think you're better than me? Too good for me?" he slurred. Rose began to slowly move her free hand onto her leg, closer to her sheathed blade that rested there.

"No, I don't," Rose said, then a spark of an idea came to her mind. "Or...maybe I do."

The man looked at her for a second, blinking in confusion. "Excuse you?" he growled.

"You see, I already have an advantage on you just being a woman because people would actually want to be with me, not with a pig like you, so there's that," she began, a grin coming across her face. "Then, there's my intelligence, which is also clearly better than yours. Matter of fact, I'm almost certain a broken shovel has a higher IQ than you, especially with how much alcohol you tend to drown yourself in."

"You little bi-" he began.

"BUTCH! That's enough!" Rose looked up to see Bill, the owner of the bar standing in front of them, glaring at the biker.

"Aw c'mon Bill, I was jus' having a little fun," Butch began to whine.

"No, Butch! I've told you a thousand times to not flirt with my female customers," Bill stated. He had a southern drawl that reminded Rose of Engineer. He had a full head of hair, unlike the brutish biker, and it was dark brown. He wore a tan t-shirt that was tucked in to some light denim jeans, making him look professional yet casual. "Plus, you don't wanna mess with Rose here. She'll cut you a new hole in yer face if yer not careful."

"Heh, I don't think I'd mind that mu-" Rose quickly pulled out her butterfly sword and shoved it into the oak-wood bar, the metal glistening in the dim lighting of the bar.

"You sure about that? Butch?" she said menacingly.

The biker quickly let go of her arm and backed off slowly. "Alright, alright...no need to get all serious, and crap..." he then turned to walk away, and yelled at one of his buddies. "Carl! Hey, lets get outta here!"

Rose ignored the rest of the conversation and put her sword back. "You know, Rose, I'm surprised Bill here hasn't given you much grief about you're swords in his bar, considering he doesn't allow weapons," Wheatley spoke up. It was nice to hear his voice, as usual.

"You know I allow a special exception for our Rose here, Wheatley," Bill responded.

Rose gave a faint smile. Rose had been coming to this bar before she met the mercs for contracts and jobs for a while after she left Aperture. When she first arrived, she had heard while she was traveling in the small town that there were odd people that looked for odd jobs at this particular bar, and that was something Rose was looking for. She stepped through the doors looking for work about 4 years ago, so when the mercenaries disbanded, she figured this would be a good place to pick up where she left off after she went back to her old work place for some answers. After hanging around the bar for a while, Bill learned of Wheatley when he saw her basically talking to herself one day. Rose thought it was okay to at least tell the man that gave her jobs the truth.

"Thanks, Bill," she thanked. "One of these days I'll pay ya back."

"Eh, don't mention it," he held up his hand in protest. "You're probably the only one who actually pays her own tab."

"Heh, that's not what I meant and you know it," she responded with a light smile.

"Yeah I know, lil' miss. But like I said, don't mention it," Bill began to walk away to greet some new customers that had just walked through the doors.

":Hm, I'm glad he didn't forget about us," Rose said once he was out of ear shot.

"And why would he? Matter of fact, he looked almost overwhelmed with joy when he saw you," Wheatley mentioned.

"Yeah, we kinda did just disappear. After the plane crash, it almost didn't cross my mind to come here," she said, taking a sip of her drink from her glass.

"Well we were sort of thrown into the mix of a type of, um, war? If you want to call it that?" Wheatley went on.

"It was a war we lost. And now look at where we're at."

"Hey, uh, let's take on a job, yeah? Get your head out of the past and what not," Wheatley suggested.

Rose gives a deep sigh and smiles, "Yeah, I guess. It's not healthy to remain in the past."

"That's the spirit!" he said with excitement.

However, before Rose could get up from her seat Bill had made his way over and handed her a folded piece of paper. Rose looked up and gave him a puzzled look.

"A lady just came in and gave me this paper to give you. Told me not to look at it. Kinda weird," he said. Rose looked down to the paper he slipped to her and took hold of it.

Once she had it in her hands Bill turned to leave her to her privacy. Rose slowly opened the folded paper and read what was sitting in front of her. Rose's eyes widened and her heart beat fast.

 _Assemble the team._

That was it. That's all it read, but she knew. Rose knew exactly what it meant. She quickly looked around to find the lady Bill was talking about, hoping she knew exactly who it was. Her eyes rushed towards the door just in time to see a small-built woman in a purple skirt and shirt leave the bar. Rose jumped out of her seat to catch up with the woman, her heart pounding and her mind racing.

"Wait! Rose, where are we going?!" Wheatley asked, a bit panicked.

"Rose! Where ya goin'?" she heard Bill shout behind.

"I'll be back!" she yelled as she burst through the door.

The sudden light of the afternoon sun almost blinded her as she ran outside. The smell of gasoline and cigarette smoke filled the air as she heard cars passing by and the chit chat of the patrons of the bar that were sitting outside. She blinked a few times, letting her eyes adjust to the sudden brightness, and thanks to her cap, it didn't take long.

Rose's eyes adjusted to the light and she saw the person she was hoping she'd see. "Pauling..." she said. "What….are you…?"

"Heh, hey Rose! Glad I could find you," the assistant said with a grin.

"How...how _did_ you even find us?" Wheatley asked, just as surprised as Rose.

"It was actually a little difficult at first, I had to keep my ear to the ground," Pauling began to explain, walking back to a little red car that was parked rather far away. "It wasn't until I heard some bikers talking at a gas station a few towns over about a woman with dual blades of some kind that showed up out of nowhere at a local biker bar. So, I figured that had to be you."

"Yeah, I carry these everywhere I go now," Rose said as she looked down to her hips where her blades rested. "After what happened before Gray took over, I didn't want to take any chances."

"We've had our fair share of odd looks, I assure you," Wheatley said.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Miss Pauling said as she opened the drivers side to the red car.

Rose reached for the door but hesitated, her hand hovering above the car handle. Miss Pauling noticed and gave a quizzical look. "Pauling...why now?" she asked.

Miss Pauling looked away towards the ground. "Honestly? I don't have the faintest idea. I just got this letter in the mail from the Administrator, and that's all."

Rose's blood suddenly began to boil hearing mention of the Administrator, but she could also tell Pauling was hiding something. She could see it on her face. Rose looked down at the car handle her hand was still hovering above. "Have you gotten any of the others together? Do you know where everyone else is?" Rose questioned.

"Well...I do know where some of them are, but it's gonna take a bit before we have everyone together. And we need to move fast, before anything happens along the way."

 _She's hiding something,_ Rose thought to herself. _But if we want to get back at Gray, we need to do it together._ "Alright, then let's go," Rose finally said.

"Great! Our next pick up is Soldier and -"

"On one condition..." Rose interrupted.

Pauling stopped as she was beginning to sit down. "Um, what's that?"

"I only go along to help the rest of the team and to get back at Gray," Rose explained. "I am NOT doing this for her." Rose stared at the assistant straight in the eyes, nothing but a cold expression showing through them.

Pauling's face went stern, and she gave Rose an approving nod. "Got it. I was actually hoping you'd say that," Miss Pauling said, her stern look fading to a smirk.

Rose returned the grin, and quickly opened the car door to sit down and buckled up. "So what's this about knowing where Soldier is?" Wheatley chirped, pushing past the serious moment.

"Oh! Yeah apparently he is in charge of a tour group that goes around celebrities homes," Pauling said starting up the engine of the little red car. They began to pull out of the parking lot and started on their way.

"What?" Rose said with a chuckle. "You've got to be kidding me. I don't see Soldier really being a people person."

"I would agree if I didn't know any better," Miss Pauling said with a smile. "I'll give you all of the details as we head where he works. But it will be a bit of a drive."

"Then lets get going," Rose said as she leaned back in her chair.

* * *

"Wait, are you sure Wheatley?" Rose asked.

"I'm certain. I just picked up a police scanner signal that a crazed man wearing a dome army helmet," Wheatley proclaimed. "No doubt he's our Soldier."

"Sounds like something he'd do," Miss Pauling sighed.

"I..." Rose paused, then sighed, "Yeah, you're right."

"So what now?" Wheatley asked.

"Hmmm," Rose and Miss Pauling sat for a moment to think. "Well we gotta act fast. I'm sure the cops will be responding any second to a celebrity murder."

"I got it!" the assistant said, then leaped out of the car. Rose looked at her with a blank expression as she left. "You comin'?!" she shouted behind her.

Rose blinked, then immediately got out to follow her. The two ran all the way to a near by donut shop, and Rose began to have a faint idea of what Pauling was going for. The two crept around the building and sure enough there was a lone police car that was sitting on the other side of the building where there were no windows. The two paused for a moment, deciding on what their next move was. Without warning, Pauling snuck over to the cop cruiser, and pulled out a small little leather booklet out of her pocket that fit snug on the hip of her business skirt. Rose didn't bother asking instead she quickly snuck over to the cruiser as well and then looked at Pauling who gave a nod to her as she began to pick the lock. Rose then stood up, and gave an act as if she was just taking a relaxing walk.

She walked over to the sidewalk that led in front of the donut shop and looked at it as if she were trying to decide whether or not she wanted a donut. She glanced in the window and saw two police officers who were casually sitting in a booth enjoying coffee and donuts. One of them saw her looking and she gave a polite smile and wave, which the police officer gave in return. Rose began to walk up to the door of the donut shop and was about to go in when she heard a door of a car close in Pauling's direction. Rose looked and then acted as if there was a friend out of the line of sight from the officers, waved and went back the way she came.

Once she knew she was out of sight, she darted to the cruiser and got in the passenger side of the vehicle. "Everything good?" she asked the assistant.

Pauling nodded, "Yeah, just glad I know how to hot-wire a car. Hey, I'll get us a few miles ahead and we can look in the trunk for spare clothes," she stated as she started up the car.

"Sounds like a bit of a long shot don't you think?" Rose said, skeptic at the idea.

"Even if there's only one spare uniform, we can use it," Miss Pauling stated.

The two drove off back around the donut shop so as to avoid the police sitting inside and went on their way to go get the first member of their dismantled team.

* * *

"Great. I wonder how that came about," Rose asked as they neared the house of a famous celebrity Tom Jones.

"Well, we all know Soldier isn't the best at being conspicuous," Wheatley replied.

"Yeah, but still..." Roses said as they pulled up to the house. Rose took a look at Miss Pauling and almost laughed.

"What's so funny?" the assistant asked, adjusting the police shirt that was comically too big for the mousey lady.

"I...I just can't. I can't take you seriously in that," Rose chuckled. "Oh man, I wish I had a camera."

"Very funny. Now can we get back to the task at hand?" Pauling said opening the door.

"Yeah yeah, I'll sit tight. I just don't see why we went through all of that trouble getting that police cruiser just to ditch it for this car," Rose huffed.

"I already said it would look suspicious to drive away from a crime scene in a police car before the police were called," Pauling explained. "Plus, all we really needed was the outfit in the trunk."

"Too bad there was only one, though. I'm pretty sure you'd look just as ridiculous in that geddup Rose," Wheatley teased.

"Psh, please," Rose waved her hand to dismiss the notion, "I'm more built than Pauling. I could pull that look off no prob."

"We can debate that after we get Soldier," Pauling cut them off. "Now wait here. I'll be right back."

"Okay, okay," Rose sighed, holding up her arms in surrender.

She watched Miss Pauling walk up to the house of the celebrity, that looked like had some commotion going on inside from what Rose could tell from the windows. Rose quietly watched the assistant walk up to the door and knock, adjusting the pants that were twice as big as she was.

"Thank goodness that belt came with the pants," Rose said aloud.

"Yeah, otherwise I don't think our little lady would have been able to keep her pants on regardless of the situation," Wheatley said.

"Heh, nice. I see what you did there," Rose chuckled.

"Why thank you. I can always rely on you to appreciate my subtle humor," he thanked.

"Always," she said with a smile, then refocused on the house and the door.

Unfortunately she didn't get to see a good view of what was going on inside the house but she could faintly hear the unmistakeable voice of Soldier in the distance. After a minute or so Miss Pauling was leading a handcuffed Soldier out of the house, pretending like she was actually arresting someone.

"Points for authenticity," she murmured. She was suddenly excited and happy to see an old teammate of hers, even if he was in handcuffs, and responsible for the murder of Tom Jones. "Guess he hasn't changed."

"Heh, suppose not. If only we were getting together under better circumstances," Wheatley said.

"Hmm, I don't know. Sometimes strife can bring certain groups together tighter than ever," Rose said with a type of softness to her voice.

"Well I suppose that is something we'll have to see for ourselves, huh?" the AI mused.

"Mmhmm," Rose agreed.

The two quieted down as Miss Pauling and Soldier approached the car in a hurried manner. Once Soldier saw Rose in the front seat, a large grin came across his face seeing another friendly face. He brought up one of his handcuffed hands and waved, and Rose returned the wave and giggled. Pauling set him in the back seat and hurried to the driver's side and got in the car.

"Guess it's a good thing you left the car running," Rose said with a smirk.

"Yep," the assistant said. She pressed on the gas and they zoomed off.

After less that a minute or two Soldier leaned towards the front seats. "Officer Pauling and Officer Rose, what I am about to say will shock you: I was framed," Soldier said, almost dramatically, like he was in a court of some sort.

Rose smiled and tried to hold in a laugh, while Pauling began to take off her disguise. "You're not under arrest, Soldier," she said looking into the rear-view mirror, "I'm getting the team back together."

"Well, truthfully you're the first one we have found," Wheatley said, popping up in front of Soldier.

"Oh hello hippie computer man!" Soldier greeted Wheatley.

"Um...yes, hello again, Soldier," Wheatley said. He almost looked like he regretted coming out to say hello.

"Soldier, I don't suppose you've heard from any of the others have you?" Miss Pauling asked. She was still taking off the uniform, her normal purple outfit hidden underneath. She handed the keys to the cuffs to Rose so she could un-cuff the old war dog.

"Hm," Soldier thought for a moment, rubbing his chin as he thought, "I've seen Scout. He helped me move out of my castle into a box. Then I accidentally broke both his arms."

"Wait, you never said you lived in a castle," Rose said, astonishment on her face.

"And now you live in a box?" Wheatley asked.

"So if the last time I saw him is any indication," Soldier continued, either ignoring the two or not hearing them, "he's probably at the crying hospital with mascara running down his stupid fa-"

"Right," Pauling sighed, cutting Soldier off, "Well, before we go to the crying hospital, I've got a couple of leads we should check out." Rose listened as she saw a cop cruiser head back into the direction that they were coming from. "Have you guys ever heard of Frontier Engineering?"

Rose gave her a puzzled look as they cruised down the road.

* * *

"Wait. You wanna run that whole plan by me again?" Rose said, crossing her arms as the three stood at the entrance of a rather large sky-scraper. Across the street was the Frontier Engineering building that Miss Pauling had told them about on the way there.

"We are going to set a fire on the floor of this building that lines up with the top floor of the one Pyro is in," Miss Pauling stated again.

"And after?" Rose asked.

"We have the car parked a block down from here so we can go through the ally-way and leave before the firefighters and police arrive," the assistant explain.

"And then we go to our next lead, right?" Rose aksed.

"Yup, that's the just of it."

"Okay, so how do you want to get up there?"

"Wait, you're seriously thinking about setting a fire up there just to get his attention?" Wheatley asked.

"Well, yeah. It's honestly the best thing to do because if you think about it, when we finally get Pyro, everyone will be too distracted to ask anything else," Rose explained. "Not to mention this is the for-sure way to get his attention and come with us."

"Yeah, that's why I came up with that plan in the first place," Miss Pauling nodded.

"Alright men, enough gabbing!" Soldier exclaimed. "We have fires to start and buildings to burn!"

"Right. Anyways, we're going to the back of the building and using the maintenance entrance. Right now is lunch time, or around that time, so there won't be too many people there to notice us," Pauling answered Rose's previous question as they walked down an ally-way to the back of the building. Before they went, Pauling made sure to grab two one gallon cans of gasoline and some matches to go with the plan.

Miss Pauling was right because when they arrived it was almost as if no one was working during that time. Quietly the three made their way through the back door and found the maintenance elevator and got in. they rode it all the way to the top of the building where Pauling pointed out a scaffolding that the workers used to clean the giant windows. The three got on and worked their way down to the level that met with the top floor of Frontier Engineering.

"Y'now, I'm still not sure how Pyro became the CEO of a billion dollar company," Rose said, manning the controls as they descended.

"I wouldn't go into the details too much," Pauling said. "Alright, this should be fine here."

Rose stopped the scaffolding, a little agitated that Pauling was beating around the bush with her point, but she knew it really wasn't important. The three looked across the street to the other side and without Miss Pauling had wrapped a piece of cloth around her hand and punched the window behind them.

"Um….Pauling?" Rose said as her and Soldier saw the assistant stand completely still, her fist on the outside of the glass. "You….uh, you okay?"

Miss Pauling took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh. "Yeah….yeah I'm fine. Just….thought that would work," she said, slowly bringing her now bruised hand.

"Hold on," Rose said, unsheathing one of her butterfly swords and held it in reverse grip, the point aimed at the glass. She pulled her arm back and with as much force she could muster, brought the sword against the glass, causing the glass to crack and cause a small hole to form from the blade. Rose brought the blade out and put it back. "Soldier, can you punch this glass for us?"

Soldier looked at the glass, then looked at Rose. "I dunno….That seems like perfectly good glass to just -"

"It insulted America by just existing," Rose said bluntly.

"YOU BASTARD!" he yelled, then sent his fist flying into the glass, finally shattering it.

"There. Good job Soldier! You make America proud," Rose said with a smile.

"I….guess I should have thought of that, heh" Miss Pauling said.

"Yeah. Why did you think just punching it would work?" Rose teased.

"I don't know! Look, at least its broken, okay. And look, the room seems to be empty so let's do this," Pauling said, a slight blush coming across her face.

"Alright, alright," Rose said, holding her hands up in surrender.

The three climbed in and gathered enough things near the hole in the window and then drenched the pile of office supplies and furniture. Then they all gathered out on the scaffolding and Pauling light up a match, threw it on the gasoline soaked pile, and the whole thing lit up in flames. It was such a sudden burst that the three had to almost duck at firs at the flames began to control themselves again.

"Alright, now we wait," Miss Pauling huffed, a slight bit of accomplishment in her tone.

After a few minutes, Rose could make out a figure in the center top floor window of Frontier Engineering. She squinted her eyes to see that it was indeed Pyro, gawking up at the immense flame that had gathered.

Pauling began to wave at him, and Rose and Soldier followed. "I think he sees us!" she said, still waving.

"Hello, Pyro!" Soldier shouted.

"Hey Pyro! Look!" Rose shouted.

"Pyro! Fires! Remember fires?" the assistant shouted.

All of a sudden Pyro dashed away from the window, on his way to meet up with the trio. "Okay, c'mon. Let's get out of here before the officials and firemen show up," Pauling said.

Rose nodded and the three made it up to the roof and back down to the maintenance entrance. After a few minutes they all met up back at the car, with Pyro in tow. The second the masked firefly saw them he ran across the street. He spotted Rose and jolted for her first, holding out his arms and picking her up in a hug, swinging her around.

"OOF!" she huffed as Pyro picked her up. "Hi to you too buddy, heh!"

"Glad to see you again Pyro," Miss Pauling smiled at him.

"Mmmm hmmm hmmmm mmm!" he muffled out a response.

"Pyro! A pleasure as always to see you, mate!" Wheatley popped up and gave a slight wave with a smile, Pyro returning it with a small wave to the small holographic wave.

"HA! Good to have you back, Pyro, you magnificent mute bastard!" Soldier exclaimed. He slung one arm over the firefly's shoulders to give him a manly side hug. The three were happy to see another one of their teammates, and Rose gave a warm smile. Her mind wandered to the rest of her teammates wondering how they were doing, her thoughts coming to one in particular, but then she shook her head to focus on the here and now.

"As awesome as it is to see you again Pyro, we should probably get going to get the others. Right Pauling?" she pointed out.

"Yes. We should probably get going. I have another lead we should check out next, so we should head out," the assistant agreed.

The other two nodded in agreement and all gathered in the car, Rose and Pauling in the front and Pyro and Soldier taking up the back. As they began their next journey, Rose looked out the window a bit of excitement growing inside. _'_ _We're finally gonna get him back,'_ she thought to herself as she remember Gray and the things he had said to her almost seven months ago.

* * *

The car pulled up to a rustic, but nice-looking house as they pulled into the drive-way. Rose looked at the house and gave it a confused look.

"Demo lives here?" she asked Pauling, who was turning off the car and beginning to get out of the car.

"Yeah, he lives here with his blind mother," Miss Pauling said.

"Wait, blind mother?" Rose asked. She had to stifle in a laugh at the irony since Demo was only half blind, but then scolded herself because she didn't know how the mother became blind.

"Okay, let's go ahead and get Demo," Pauling said, not hearing Rose's question. "Soldier and Rose, you guys can come if you want. Pyro you wanna come?"

The masked firefly shook his head, hinting that he wanted to stay in the car and play with the lighter that Pauling gave him to keep him occupied.

"Alright then, shall we?" Wheatley asked. The three got out of the car and started heading to the front door. "I wonder if Demo has had as much luck with his time off as these fellows have," the AI wondered.

"I would hope so," Rose replied.

They reached the door and Pauling was the first to knock. They waited for a minute or so and the assistant knocked again. Still no answer. Miss Pauling gave the others a confused look, to which they simply gave a shrug, and she then knocked again. After a few seconds, Rose picked up a fain sound of a television coming from the window to the right of the front door that was a few feet away. She began to listen closely to what was exactly on the television, and Pauling noticed her concentrated look.

"What's up, Rose?" she asked the freelancer.

"Hmm, I swear I hear a television. It sounds like..." Rose took another few seconds to try and listen closer, "It sounds like someone's watching...Ghost D.A.?"

"Ew...who would want to watch that terribly written drama show?" Wheatley aksed.

"I know right? It's so bad. I felt like a few of my brain cells committed homicide on each other the last time I watched about two minutes of it," Rose said with a chuckle.

"Alright, alright, we all can agree that it's a terrible show, but we still have something we need to take care of right now, remember?" Pauling said, trying to regain focus with the group.

"Yeah, yeah. But with how loud that television seems to be, I don't think they can hear us knocking," Rose pointed out.

"Well, we'll just have to keep knocking until someone notices," the assistant said as she knocked on the door again, waiting for someone to answer the door.

They waited for almost ten minutes, until they heard a shrill voice yell at someone else, then some shuffling towards the door. After a few seconds the door knob turned and a head poked out of the door.

"What do ye..." Demo man paused as his head peered out the door. A bit of a foul odor wafted its way out the door and Rose made a scrunched face at the smell. Then the door opened all the way to reveal a very let go Demoman behind it. "...oh. Hullo, Miss Pauling." He gave a slight wave.

"Hello, fat Demoman!" Soldier greeted bluntly.

"Heeeeeey, Demo….You look….um..." Rose trailed off as she gave a slight wave, the smell now more profound.

"Demo? Um, what...hello. What happened?" she asked, shying away a bit from the sight of the once glorified bomb expert of their team.

"Och, well...have ye heard aboot the beer of the month club?" he asked, slurring his words. "Well, I joined the beer all at once club."

"We….noticed," Rose mumbled, trying to recompose herself.

"Geez mate, you _really_ let yourself go," Wheatley mentioned. "I mean, how much can someone let themselves go in only six months?"

"Wheatley knock it off," Rose hissed.

"What? Oh I'm just teasing," he said defensively.

All of a sudden they heard a woman and another voice yelling from the background. "Who is it? Ask 'em have they got any jobs!" the woman shouted. Given her accent, Rose assumed that that was his mom.

"Ask if they've got churros!" the other voice said. Rose couldn't place that voice.

"Look, I'm busy. What d'yea want," Demo slurred again, eying them with a bit of contempt, as if they had done something wrong to him.

"Um, well. How would you like a job?" Miss Pauling asked with a smirk on her face.

Demo's face lit up, "Are...are yea...are yea givin' me my oul' job back?" he asked, completely taken aback.

Pauling reached for a paper in one of her pockets and pulled out a sheet of paper, the same Rose had seen when the assistant came to get her earlier that day. "This was in my mailbox this morning," she said. "Demo – she's back."

"So ye've found her then?" the gruff Scott asked, rubbing the stubble on his chin.

"Um, no."

"But...ye know what the job is."

"Not a clue. You in?"

Demoman whirled around and yelled behind him, "EYELANDER! Yae roosty wee booter knife! Put yer sheath on!" He rushed in the house and in a matter of minutes he rushed back out the door in his old uniform, clean shaven, "WE'VE GOT A JOB!"

* * *

"It's good tah see ye again lass!" Demo exclaimed towards Rose, who was currently sitting in the back now next to one of the doors as Pyro sat in the middle and Soldier on the other side.

"Same here, Demo!" Rose said with a bright smile.

"And it's good to see yourself all picked up and what not," Wheatley teased.

"Ah missed ye too ya devil, Wheatley," the Scott chuckled. "Wouldn' be the same withoot ye!"

"Couldn't agree more," Miss Pauling said. "Now to go over how we get the rest of the team together. It's a twelve hour flight to Siberia."

"Aye, we grab Heavy..." Demo mentioned.

"...then to Australia..." Pauling went on.

"To pick up Sniper…" Rose said.

"...and home again. Four days tops," Pauling finished. "That still leaves -"

"Miss Pauling! Rose! Pyro is on my side of the car again!" Soldier whined.

"Pyro, don't go on Soldier's side," the two said in unison.

"That still leaves Engie, Medic, Spy and Scout," Pauling listed. Rose froze.

"Ah, Medic. I'd forgotten about him. He's got hisself a fancy job now," Demo mentioned.

Rose sat quietly as a little bit of anger and resentment started to rise up. She remembered her last encounter with the doctor a little over three months ago, before she made that trip to Aperture. They didn't exactly leave on good terms with one another, but after this much time has passed, she figured she should at least talk to him about what happened.

"We'll convince him," Pauling's assured voice snapped her back into reality, as well as the shoving that was occurring between Pyro and Soldier as Soldier shoved him against her, a little bit too rough.

"Hey you two, there's a third passenger back her too, ya know!" she hissed at them.

"I'm more worried about the Engineer," Pauling went on, ignoring the roughhousing in the backseat as it was now a free-for-all to control it. "It's like dropped off the face of the-"

Rose gave a slight gasp and chuckle as Soldier leaned up to Miss Pauling. "Miss Pauling! Pyro cut off my hand," he said as he held up the dismembered hand up.

"Pyro, don't cut off Soldier's hands," she stated.

"Told ya you shouldn't have done it," Rose whispered to the firefly as he held his head down in slight shame.

It took them about two more minutes until they found a vet clinic, as they went in to get Soldier's hand reattached. The primary vet there was more than a little alarmed at the request to reattach the old war dog's hand, and when he asked about what happened, Pauling and Rose had convinced him it was better if he just didn't ask.

The vet had reattached Soldier's hand in a matter of minutes and as he finished up and Soldier wanted to shake his hand as thanks (with the same hand that was cut off), and Pyro was playing with a Dalmatian puppy, Rose, Miss Pauling and Demo were conversing on their remaining missing teammates.

"Scout'll turn up on 'is own," Demo stated, "But Spy…"

"He could literally be anything or anyone, anywhere in the world. Finding him would be like finding a needle in a hay stack," Rose finished.

"I could trace any records of men changing their appearance with a puff of smoke, or disappearing without a trace," Wheatley chimed in an idea.

"Ach, well...let's worry about that backstabber when we need tae," Demo said, as Rose's eyes came across a newspaper behind the Scott. "As it stands, we've got a plane tae catch an'..."

"Um, hey guys," Rose interrupted. "We might have to miss that flight of ours." She lifted the paper to the assistant and Demo. "I think I found where Scout and Spy are."

"Bloody hell," Demo sighed.

"What in the world?" Wheatley said.

Rose held up the newspaper and the front of the page had a picture of Scout and Spy posing for mugshots in a police station, the title reading:

 **MERC SCUM TO HANG**

 **A/N: Hey guys! This chapter was a bit longer, so sorry if it dragged on! Hope you liked it! If you hadn't noticed, and if you're advent readers of the TF2 Comics, then you will notice that my story is basically just tying around that. It's not that I'm not creative enough to come up with something on my own, I just wanted to write a story with putting my character in and see what would happen. There may be some changes down the road, swerving away from what the comics have, but only just a bit because I want to stay true to their story as much as I can. Anyways, sorry it took so long too, I've had a lot going on, but I will definitely try getting the next chap out sooner than later! Thank you guys for your patience and positive remarks! It means a lot to me! THANK YOU GUYS! :D**


	30. False Ruling

The Tenth Class

Chapter 30: False Ruling

"Eyelander! I'm leavin' the window open a crack," Demo stated towards his talking ghost sword. "This puppy better still have a head when I get back."

"Don't worry Demo, I'm staying to watch the car while you guys go do your things," Rose said, placing a hand on his shoulders for reassurance.

"I still don't see why I can't go," the sword began to complain. "Let the moron stay here and watch the dog."

"Oh quit complaining, ya hunk of metal," Rose teased. "At least you won't be alone."

"Well….I guess it could be worse. I could still be watching that stupid show," the sword sighed.

"You sure you guys will be fine?" Rose asked the group, ignoring the swords comment.

"Yeah, we should be just fine," Miss Pauling reassured. "Me and Pyro are gonna take care of some things in the library, and Demo and Soldier are gonna see what they can do about getting Scout and Spy out of custody."

Rose scratched her head as the two mercs went off towards the main part of town, unsure of the decision. "I mean...do you think _they'll_ be alright? Not cause any commotion?"

"Well, I mean, there certainly will be something going on, but if the thing at the library doesn't take too long, then we'll come get you and head towards the courthouse and make sure everything is okay," Pauling explained.

Rose gave a nod. "Well, I suppose."

"See?" Pauling looked down at her watch and her eyes grew wide. "Oh crap! Okay, well, we'll be back soon. Pyro! C'mon!"

The assistant began to make her way towards what Rose could only assume was the direction of the library, then a thought crossed her mind. "Hey Pauling! You never told me what was at the library!" she shouted. Pauling kept running, apparently not hearing her. "Psh, probably on some secret errand if I had to guess."

"You might be right about that, Rose," Wheatley stated.

"Whoa! Hey, where'd that voice come from?" the sword in the car exclaimed.

"That's Wheatley. My AI. Say hello, Wheatley," Rose said.

Wheatley popped up in his hologram next to the sword in the car. "'Ello, mate. Pleasure to meet you!" the AI waved.

"Whoa! Where'd you come from? You just popped outta now where," Eyelander said.

"Good observation. I'm surprised you can see anything for a sword," Wheatley began to tease.

"Hey, I can do more than ya think, little man," the sword said, getting defensive. "I'm a freakin' ghost sword for cryin' out loud."

"Huh, a ghost sword? That explains a lot," Rose said, her interest peaking as she leaned up against the back door. The little Dalmatian puppy began to nip at Wheatley, trying to play with him.

"Oi! I'm not a chew toy, buddy!" Wheatley stated, backing away from the puppy. He then disappeared, leaving the poor puppy alone and confused for a few seconds before it went back to gnawing on the back seat. "Crazy pup."

"Aw c'mon, Wheatley, he just wanted to play," Rose said. "It's not like he was doing any harm anyways."

"Yeah, and its better than the mutt chewing on my sheath," the sword pointed out.

"Geez! What is with you two and harking on this poor puppy?" Rose exclaimed, opening the door to the car. The puppy turned around and gave a short bark of excitement that made Rose giggle a bit. The puppy ran out and around her with all of its excitement and energy.

"Well I'm not exactly able to do anything, 'cause y'know, I'm a freakin' sword," Eyelander said with slight irritation in his voice.

"And it's demeaning to be used a chew toy, Rose. I was made to be your personal AI, not some puppy's slobbery chew thing, thank you very much," Wheatley said with contempt in his voice.

"Wow, okay guys. Clam down will ya?" Rose said as she knelt down to play with the puppy. "Hmmm, what should we name you?"

"Rose, you're not seriously thinking of naming the pup, are you?" Wheatley asked.

"Why not?" Rose asked.

"Well given our current situation, and what basically led up to the pup in the first place, I think it would be wise to not get attached," the AI stated.

"Oh it's not gonna be that bad -" Rose began, but stopped as she noticed the small puppy find a squirrel. And freeze for a few seconds. "Oh shi-"

Before Rose could move to stop the puppy, he took off full speed towards the squirrel Rose stumbling after it. 'NO! WAIT! C'mere boy! Here boy!" she shouted after it.

"AHAHAHAHA! Good luck catching that thing!" Eyelander howled with laughter behind her.

"Crap crap crap!" she huffed, ignoring the sword's comment and still trying to keep up with the puppy. "Get back here you little fur-ball!"

The puppy continued running, barking and yelping at the squirrel as it went. Rose was lucky enough to see that the squirrel ran up a tree as they crossed a street and the Dalmatian tried to follow, but to no avail. Rose caught up to the puppy and snatched it up.

"You little brat," she scolded. "If we ever get a break with all of this, you will seriously need to be trained."

The puppy gave a little bark and then proceeded to lick Rose's face, unaware of what it had done prior.

"Okay okay! Pth – enough puppy kisses!"

"Oh no, Rose! You're being attacked by a small little puppy! What's our next course of action?" Wheatley teased.

"We have to counter act with immense petting action!" Rose went with the acting.

Rose and the puppy made it back to the car, Eyelander still laying in the back seat. "Oh great, you made it back," he said, sarcasm in his voice.

"What?" Rose huffed.

"Oh nothing. Just, uh, realized that maybe next time you could take me with you. Y'know, instead of sitting here. In the car. Alone," he whined.

"Oh hush ya big baby," Rose said. "You know, for a ghost sword, you sure do complain a lot."

"Hey! I didn't ask to become haunted, okay?" Eyelander replied.

"Alright, fair enough," Rose said, not really wanting to start anything. She carefully put the squirmy puppy back in the back seat and quickly closed the back door before he could bolt out the door to chase something else. "Whew...little thing sure is a handful."

Suddenly Rose could hear voices from what sound like a crowd of people a few blocks away. "Wonder what that commotion is all about?" Wheatley asked.

"I dunno," Rose replied. "I wonder if it has anything to do with the trial for Scout and Spy."

She began to walk away from the car when she heard footsteps approaching rather quickly behind her. Rose turned to see Miss Pauling running towards her, along with Pyro who was following right behind her. "Rose!" she shouted. "We have – to make it – over to the – court house now!" Pauling huffed along.

"Why what's going on?" Rose asked.

"They're starting the hanging!" the assistant replied. Rose's eyes widened as she turned to the area where she first heard all those people.

"Crap..." she blurted and took off before Pauling could catch up to her. "Wheatley, I don't suppose you still have vital sigs on the guys, do you?"

"Um, it has been a bit but give me a sec," the AI said. After a few seconds he responded, "Okay, looks like all of them have elevated heart rates. Well, three are really elevated, then there's one where it's slightly elevated."

"That one's probably Spy," Rose huffed as she turned a corner into an ally-way between two buildings and ran closer to the crowd of people.

"Yup, it would seem that way. You're only a few more yards away, but you'd better hurry," Wheatley warned.

"On it," Rose said, picking up the pace.

She ran out of the ally-way and into a rather large group of people that were all looking towards what seemed to be the courthouse. Rose squinted and her heart skipped a beat as she saw her four teammates, all with nooses around their neck.

"Seriously? Demo and Soldier too? They were supposed to get the others out of this mess, not get tangled in it as well," Rose complained. Then she heard Pauling come up behind her, stopping about a foot or two away to catch her breath. "Huh, I honestly didn't think you'd catch up that quickly."

The assistant looked up at her, raised a finger, but then went back to bending over to catch her breath. Luckily, it only took her a few seconds to regain herself but soon she had her breath back. Pauling turned to see the what the crowd was looking at and saw the four mercs on a platform with nooses.

"Crap," it was her turn to say.

"C'mon, let's go save 'em," Rose said, and took off through the crowd, Miss Pauling and Pyro right on her heels.

As they got closer, Rose could see a hooded man approaching one side of the stand, getting ready to pull the floor out from underneath the mercs. Rose quickly sped up her pace as she saw the floor disappearing from underneath Scout.

"STOP!" the two women shouted in unison.

Rose went under Scout's feet to make sure he didn't fall any further, "Don't….let go…." Scout was able to let out as the rope began to tighten around his neck.

"Don't worry, Scout. I gotcha," Rose reassured the young merc.

Miss Pauling came up right next to her and began to address the crowd and the man in the robe that Rose could only assume was the judge. "How could mercenaries do any of those things?" she asked.

"Wait, what things?" Rose aksed.

"While you were running to stop Scout from choking to death, the judge over there was explaining the things that the mercenaries did to their town," Wheatley explained. "It actually sounded like rubbish to me."

Pauling continued, "They don't rezone! They don't petition! Nearly half of them can't read!" All Rose could do as she held Scout up was nod in agreement. "Those are all things a mayor does!"

The sound of a gavel rang through the air, "Lies! Hang her too," the judge said.

"Wait, is he the mayor too? And what's with all the hanging nonsense?!" Rose questioned.

"That's another thing! Mayors can't hang people!" Pauling walked out in front of the crowd. "Everyone! I was just at...the library!"

Suddenly the whole crowd started gasping, and Rose heard the banging of the gavel again. "No gasping!" the mayor demanded.

"What the hell is going on here?" Rose asked laughing, still holding Scout up. She noticed that Spy was able to free himself while Miss Pauling had the crowd and mayor distracted and he began to untie the others.

Pauling walked up to the mayor with a paper of some sort, "This is a book on mayoring," she stated.

"Wait, there's such a thing called a book of mayoring?" Rose asked. At this time she had climbed up on the platform and was untying Scout while he was squirming to catch his breath.

"Well, technically it's more like a pamphlet," Pauling answered as she turned to Rose. "It states in here everything that a mayor can and can't do. They don't have authority to kill anyone or make anybody do anything. They can do like two things."

A man from the crowd walked up to the mayor, "Mayor Mike," the short man began. Rose could tell that he had a really bad and made up Italian accent and was apparently a pizza man. She rolled her eyes at the cliché but went on listening to what the short man had to say. "You make-a Guiseppe dress and-a talk like-a Italian stereotype for-a 10 years!"

"Whoa, why did he do that to that poor man?" Rose asked.

"Lord only knows why idiots do anything," Spy spoke up. "Also, it's good to see you again Rose."

"Heh, same to you Spy," Rose smiled as she finally finished undoing the noose around Scout's neck and he fell to the ground with a thud. "You guys should tell me how you got in this mess later."

"All I can say is zhat it was a complete mess of idiocy at its finest," Spy scoffed.

"Guiseppe! I thought you liked talking like that!" Mayor Mike said. Rose's focus went back to the two men talking.

"Nobody-a talk-a like-a dis!" the man exclaimed.

"Gosh, Guiseppe. I'm sorry..." the mayor apologized.

The man began to cry, "My name not even-a Guiseppe. Is-a Trevor."

Rose began to feel pity for the man. "Well, you can go back to talking your old way if like, Trevor," the mayor said, a softness to his voice.

Trevor began to cry even more, "Trevor can't-a remember how-a he use-a to talk!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, that seems about right," Rose stated.

"How do you mean?" Spy asked.

"Ten years of talking a specific way is like forming a new habit. Eventually your brain forgets the pattern of your old speech and replaces it with the new one," Rose lightly explained. "There's more to it than that, but that's the just of it." Rose turned to the mayor, "And what the heck man? Why would you make some poor guy do all that?"

"I though I had the power to do so," Mayor Mike shrugged. "But if making Trevor talk like a broad Italian stereotype and hanging people aren't things a mayor can do…"

"Nobody's hanged anyone since like, the nineteen sixties, by the way," Rose pointed out, but the oblivious mayor ignored her comment.

He stood up straight and pointed randomly out towards the horizon, trying to look as heroic as he could, "Then maybe it's time I focused on the things I can do! Like giving these mercenaries a full pardon!"

The townspeople began to clap for his generous gesture, but Pauling put a pin in the idea, "You can't do that," she said, looking down at the pamphlet.

Mayor Mike then looked in the other direction, this time towards a particular building off in the distance, "Like shutting down that pedophile sanctuary!" he said with valiant effort, causing the crowd to clap again. Rose gave him a disturbed look.

"Wait, why the hell is there a place like that existing!?" she said, quite alarmed. She looked to the other mercs, who just shrugged, unsure themselves (except Scout who was still recovering from almost being hung).

"It's a federal matter now," Pauling pointed out. "I think you've got fifty more years on the lease."

"Hey maybe you could check out a book from the library to, oh I don't know, actually learn about being a mayor and learn laws and what not," Rose spoke up.

Mayor Mike looked at her and then to Miss Pauling, "Can I do that?" he asked.

Pauling gave a perky smile. "Yes!" she chirped.

The same valiant look came across his face as he stood up straight again, "Everybody!" he shouted. "I'm going to the library! To learn more about mayoring!"

Rose couldn't help but face palm herself as the whole crowd of townspeople followed the oblivious mayor to the library to learn what they could about mayoring, Italy and apparently pedophiles.

"So...we weren't on trial for all zhe property damage and murders we actually committed?" Spy asked.

"You guys know that mill you've been fighting over? It's been leaking chemicals into the ground water for a generation," Pauling explained. "This is an entire town of lead-poisoned idiots. That's why we give you guys bottled water most of the time."

"Bottled what, now?" Soldier asked.

"Wait, that...that's really bad. Shouldn't we do something about that?" Rose asked.

"Unfortunately, that is also a federal matter now," the assistant said as she turned to the group of mercenaries. "We couldn't do anything if we wanted to."

"Well that sucks..." Rose said, starting to feel bad about the people of Tuefort.

"Okay, now that we have you guys safe and sound, we should probably head back to the car to go over how we are going to get the others," Miss Pauling said.

Rose shook her head about the townspeople and focused on the task at hand. "Right, we should get going then," Rose agreed.

Before they headed back to car, however, Scout and Spy still needed to gather their things from the jail office they were being held in. After that, they group went on towards the car and Miss Pauling went over with them on who was going where next. When they got next to the car, Demo looked in and saw that the puppy's head was still attached to his body.

"Good job, Eyelander," the Scott said to the haunted sword.

"Shhh! He's asleep!" the sword whispered.

Rose waled over to see how the puppy was doing too and gave a soft smile as she saw the little thing fast asleep on the floor of the car. Her and Demo looked at each other and gave a nod, then returned to the group to go over the plans.

Miss Pauling went over who was going where, who they were going to get next and where they were going to meet up once they got everyone together. She explained that after the got Sniper and Heavy that she would go over the next part of the plan at the meeting point. Rose was about to question why they couldn't just go over them now, but then thought that it might be easier to go over the next steps when they had mostly everyone together. After they all knew what their tasks were, they split up and all headed out to accomplish their objectives.

* * *

"DAMMIT!" Gray shouted as he slammed his fist into the desk next to him. "How is that witch always one step ahead of us?! And with those mutts she calls mercenaries?"

Gray froze, as his mind brought up Rose, and their last encounter. The side of his face began to hurt slightly as he remember how hard she had kicked him the last time they met, but his thoughts were cut short by a low and husky voice.

"Don't worry, they won't be for long," the male voice said. Gray turned around to look at the person talking. He was an older man, but younger than Gray was. He had looked like he had been through his fair share of battles throughout the years. He had a stern look on his face, and wore goggles over his eyes with a blue bandana on his head. The man was dressed with what appeared to be slate-gray combat overalls with a blue tank top underneath. "We found them about three weeks ago, and we know where they are heading next."

Gray's face had more frustration on him that earlier, "And you haven't attacked them yet?! What are you waiting for?!"

"MERCENARIES! FALL IN!" the brute man shouted. All of a sudden the doors to the office opened up and seven more men walked in, all wearing different types of clothing, one of them holding up a bright bar of metal that was presumably the Australium that Gray had been endlessly searching for. Gray's face lit up as bright as the metal bar, and the man continued to talk. "We haven't gone after them because you don't want them. You want her, but we don't know where she is. Yet."

The man turned to his fellow teammates to address them, "Men! We are moving out! You will be debriefed on the bird and -"

He was suddenly interrupted when one more member of their team stumbled through the door; Medic from red team. "Vait!" he shouted, stumbling over some papers as he entered. "Are ve leaving? Vhat about zhe baboon uteruses?" he asked, apparently not deterred about the mission.

The leader of the group of mercs turned to the doctor, "What the hell do you mean? What baboon uteruses?"

"Oh! Vhy zhe ones I'm putting inside of you of course!" Medic said.

"I swear to god if you put a single uterus in my men -" the leader began to shout.

"Oh come now. It's completely harmless!" Medic turned to one of the mercenaries standing behind him and pointed, "I even put three in Greg and you don't hear him complaining."

The mercenary who looked like an old demolitions man suddenly had a horrified expression on his face as he grabbed his side. "You said you filling out a cavity!" the man shouted.

"I was!" Medic replied. "Zhe one I made in your abdomen. Vait...vhere are ve going anyway?"

The group of mercenaries all started to grin at the question, but it was Gray who spoke up, "You will be going after your old team. I can assume that that won't be a problem?"

Medic then had a grin of his own cross his face, "Not at all. It vill be interesting seeing my old creations go against my new masterpieces," he said calmly.

"Good," Gray stated. "Oh and as for their newest member..."

"The Rose girl, right?" the leader asked. Medic's grin soon disappeared, a straight yet slightly grim expression coming across.

Gray nodded, "Yes. Bring her straight to me," he rubbed the side of his face, "I have some personal business with her I would like to deal with."

The leader let out a low chuckle, "Heh, understood. Let's move out men!"

The group began to leave out the door, Medic being the last. _'Rose...'_ he thought to himself, following the rest of his new team.

* * *

"So Rose," Miss Pauling leaned over the center isle of the plane to Rose, who was sitting on the other side next to Spy, who was busy reading a magazine they had on the plane. "You were the last person to talk to Medic, right?"

Rose froze up a bit, then looked at Pauling, who looked back at her with a curious look. She nodded. "So what happened? Where'd he go? Demo said he had a fancy job, but do you know what that means?"

Rose looked back to the book she had in front of her, and sighed. "Rose? Are you sure you wanna talk about it now?" Wheatley asked.

She sighed, "Yeah, I mean I'd have to explain sooner or later." She laid her book down after folding the corner of the page she was on, then looked at Miss Pauling. "It happened about a month or so after we all split up. During that time, I had decided to stick with Medic for the time being until we had found a steady source of income for ourselves. It was actually….nice for a time. I guess you could say it was a pleasant experience…."

"Pleasant experience? With zhat mad man?" Spy asked, now interested in the story more than his magazine.

"Heh, yeah. I know Medic has his crazy streak, and seems a bit unhinged, but surprisingly enough he does have a bit of a sweet side," Rose admitted.

"Probably in his own sick and twisted way, I suppose," Spy scoffed.

"Spy!" Pauling hissed.

"No, he's not too far off," Rose said. "Sure he was crazy, and his methods definitely raised concern, but at least around me, he was always a gentleman."

"I can vouch for that statement," Wheatley commented.

"I know he was getting bored with not having any actual experiments to work on, and not having enough money to really get into anything, we came across some information that a mercenary group was looking for an extra member," Rose explained. "I was okay with it at first, but when he went to talk to them about the job, something seemed off, so I did a little digging behind the source of the offer. Needless to say, after I found out who they were I was definitely against joining up with them."

Rose paused, and Miss Pauling and Spy were now interested even more in the story, hanging on every word, while Demo, who was sitting next to Pauling was snoring away. Rose continued, "After he came back from talking with them, I told him what I found, then I let him talk about what the job was. He said that they didn't tell him exactly what big mission they were going to undertake, but that it would pay extremely well. I admitted that being mercenaries, we really couldn't complain about where our money came from, but I also explained that these men couldn't be trusted and I didn't feel right to join them."

"Why didn't you, exactly?" Spy asked. "Who were zhese men?"

Rose paused before she answered. "They were old mercenaries that used to work for the Mann brothers." Pauling and Spy gave a slight gasp from the new information.

"Why didn't you bring this up sooner?" Miss Pauling asked.

"There was never a good time to bring it up and no one ever asked," Rose admitted. "Anyways, we discussed it a bit more, and I told him that joining these mercenaries might not be the best decision and that we didn't know what we were going to get into. He was dead set on joining up with them, and since I didn't want to stop him, I just left. haven't seen him since."

The three were quiet for a moment, then Miss Pauling spoke up, "Well, we'll have to take care of that when the time comes. I'm sure we can convince him to come back, but in the mean time we should focus on getting Heavy and Sniper back," she said.

Rose and Spy nodded. "We should take a page out of Demo's book and get some shut eye," Rose said. "I'm sure we're gonna need it when we get there."

"Good call," the assistant agreed as she sat back in her seat. "We have a long few days ahead of us, I'm sure."

The three then went back to their individual quietness, Spy picking up where he left off on his magazine and the ladies getting some sleep in. However, no matter how much Rose tried to get to sleep, her mind wouldn't let her as it continued to go back to that last moment she had with Medic, wishing she tried harder to convince her friend to not join that other group of mercenaries. And she also couldn't shake the fact that their mission was just beginning.

* * *

Miss Pauling, Spy, Demoman, and Rose made their way off the plane, when a ringing noise came from Pauling's suitcase. She paused to open it and pull out the emergency phone she had tucked away inside. She answered as she continued to walk towards the exit.

"You got Pauling," she answered. She waited a second before responding, "Oh! Hey Scout. What's the news? Good. Get across the border. I have a plane waiting for you guys in Kotzebue. Oh, he's definitely here. Let's just hope he's happy to see us."

Pauling continued to talk to Scout as the four of them made their way out the exit, under a giant sign that said _Welcome to Australia_. Rose looked up and hoped the same thing. Their mission was split up into to two parts; Demo and Miss Pauling were going to get Sniper, while Spy and Rose were going to one of the military bases near the coast to obtain a submarine. When Rose asked why they needed one, Pauling told her that she would explain once everyone was together at the rendezvous. Deciding that that was going to be the best answer she'd get, Rose let it be and continued with the mission.

Pauling finished the phone call with Scout and sighed, snapping Rose back into reality. "What's up?" she asked the assistant.

"Well, I suppose one of Heavy's sisters will be joining us," she groaned.

"Wait, what? Why?" Rose asked. The group walked up to two cars that were meant to take the group to their designated points. Spy opened the trunk to his and Rose's and put their luggage in.

"Well, apparently her and Soldier are dating," Pauling stated.

Everyone froze, dumbfounded looks on their faces. "Soldier?" Spy spoke up. "Has….a girlfriend….and its…."

"One of Heavy's sisters, yes."

"What the hell were they doing up there?!" Rose almost shouted. She tried to be serious about the situation, but couldn't help but smile and let out a small laugh. "I mean...good for him, but….what are the odds?"

"I don't even know, but we can't focus on that right now," Pauling said. "We just...need to do this, and we'll have to handle that when the time comes."

"I mean, I guess," Rose shrugged. She walked over to the passenger side of the car to get in and Spy held open the door. "Oh, thanks Spy."

He nodded as she sat down. Demo and Pauling got in their car and headed off to go get Sniper, and Spy got in and soon the two were on their own way to obtain a submarine. The two sat in silence for a few minutes until Rose let out a chuckle.

"Something amusing, Rose?" Spy asked.

"Yeah...well, I mean kind of, but honestly….Soldier?" she asked.

"I suppose even morons deserve a chance at love," the Frenchman stated.

"That's mean," she responded.

"But true."

"Well….yeah, heh," Rose relaxed a bit. All that's happened so far, since the few of them got together, Rose had to admit that so far it had been a crazy ride. And it was going to get crazier. "So...do you think we can win this?"

Spy looked at her briefly, then back to the road. "Y'know, since you're being honest and everything."

It took him a minute to respond. "Honestly, I can't say."

They were quiet for another moment, before Rose spoke up. "Eh, I think we got this."

"Hm? How can you be so sure?" Spy asked.

"Well, since the day I met the lot of you, I know you guys can basically handle anything that's thrown at you," Rose said, "I mean hell, you guys take on a crazy wizard like every year, don't you?"

"Against our better judgment," Spy sighed, but with a faint smile.

Rose leaned back in her seat, and closed her eyes. "She's right y'know," Wheatley spoke up. "After all the things you guys have been through and you're own special techniques, I don't think that there's anything you weirdos can't handle."

"Wheatley!" Rose snapped, "It takes one to know one."

"Well I mean you did make me after all," the AI quipped.

"Fair enough, heheh," Rose chuckled. "Anyways, the plan for us is to go to this base and to get a sub, and also check for any Australium cache there, yeah?"

"Correct. Miss Pauling believes there is a small cache zhere, and if zhere is, zhe men guarding it could be stronger zhan you expect," Spy explained.

"Right. Well I hope we can have some peaceful talks before anyone throws any punches. I don't feel like taking on any military guys if I don't have to," she said.

"If Miss Pauling's hunches were right, we may not have to," the Frenchman assured her.

"Yeah...well, in case we do, we should probably come up with a strategy while we make our way there. I like to be prepared."

"I agree. Stealth is of utmost importance."

"Yep, and with Wheatley, we can track their movements and set distraction if needed to keep attention off of us."

"And if zhe need does arise zhat we have to fight, I would prefer to not to get blood on my suit," Spy mentioned.

"Oh don't go cryin' on me before we even get there Spy," Rose teased. "But I agree, I'll use the electricity in my blades to give enough of a jolt to at least shock their systems. Hopefully I won't have to do that, though."

"Same here," Spy agreed.

The two sat in silence the rest of the way until they got to the base. It was beginning to become evening on the base as Rose and Spy parked a good distance away to avoid attracting attention. The outer wall was lit up with search lights and decorated with barbed wire on the top. The two mercs looked around to see any other type of security, and Rose was a bit surprised to see that security was so scarce at a military outpost like this.

As if he were reading her thoughts, Spy spoke up calmly, "Hmm, I was expecting a bit more security zhan zhis," he said.

"I scanned the area and it seems everyone is in the central area where the submarine is. Not very much action going on from what I can see," Wheatley stated.

"Huh, wonder why there isn't anyone standing guard," Rose said.

"Well we won't get any answers standing around. Let's move," Spy said. Rose nodded and the two were on the move around the wall as Wheatley gave them instructions to the nearest unguarded entrance. The two moved quick and silently, basically able to communicate each other without saying a word. For a split moment, Rose smiled.

They then came up on their entrance, and found it locked. Rose looked at Spy who was already pulling out a small lock picking set out of his suit jacket. "Wait, we have company," Wheatley whispered.

The two looked up to see a military man walk up to the door, inhaling a cigarette and looking off into the distance. When he turned his head and saw the two mercs standing at the door, one about to pick the lock, he froze. To Rose's astonishment, he didn't look surprised or alarmed by their presence, so she held off from putting her hands on her blades that hung on her thighs. They stood there for a moment or two without saying a word.

"Um, 'ello there," the man greeted. "Can I, uh, help you, mates?"

Spy and Rose looked at one another. Then Spy turned to the man, "I don't suppose you could let us in?" he asked bluntly.

"And would you let us borrow your submarine?" Rose asked.

The man looked at them with a bit of confusion, then shrugged, reached in one of his pockets and handed Spy a set of keys. "Yeah sure."

"But….why? Aren't you guys gonna fight us? Or something?" Rose asked.

"Normally we would, but all our Australium was taken from us," the man explained. "We're about as strong as a newborn baby."

"What? How is that possible?" she asked. The man shrugged.

"Would you mind if we took a look around?" Spy then asked.

The man nodded, "Sure thing, mate. Though, there ain't nothin' much 'ere."

"Zhat is fine," Spy stated as he unlocked the door with the keys he was given.

Him and Rose then made their way through the base to the center area where the submarine. "That's really weird..." Rose mumbled.

"Hm?" Spy asked.

"How much was there supposed to be here? Australium I mean."

"If I had to guess, at least a few hundred tons if its supposed to be guarded by these men," Wheatley spoke up. "What I don't get is how did someone manage to get all of it without anyone noticing? And who?"

"I can take a pretty good guess as to who. But how is something else, entirely," Rose said.

"Well we can ask around while we wait for Soldier and zhis 'lady friend' of his," Spy said. "Hopefully we can find some clues."

"Hopefully," Rose repeated. She was even more distrusting of the Administrator if she was really the one behind the disappearance of the rare metal. Made her wonder why she even needed the mercs back together.


	31. PLOT TWIST

The Tenth Class

Chapter 31: PLOT TWIST!

Rose was standing next to the submarine and staring blankly at it as her mind was deep in thought. The submarine was near the back of a large courtyard that had high concrete walls around it, and the soldiers there were all relaxing, playing cards, talking, or even just sleeping. It was late in the evening and Soldier and his new 'girlfriend,' had landed a few hours ago. Spy and Rose had been waiting in the base for Miss Pauling's next orders, and when the two were informed that Soldier and Heavy's sister had made their way to them, Spy was going to gather them. Rose stayed behind to see if she could gather any more information from the men who worked this military outpost, but unfortunately it was the same story all around: someone had come in about three months ago and stole the Australium that they had guarded here completely unnoticed.

Rose knew it had to be the Administrator, but she could figure out why or how. And if she was the one going around getting all the rare metal prior to the mercenaries coming together, then why did she need them to begin with? And why now? Things just weren't adding up, and she needed answers...and, why her? Rose froze for a moment; the Administrator could have just as easily gotten the rest of the men together without her help, given the fact that she had just been thrown into the group one day after her plane crashed all that time ago.

Before Rose could continue her thoughts she heard the main door at the front of the courtyard open. She turned to see Spy standing in the middle with Soldier on his left and who appeared to be his lady friend on Spy's right. The two were dressed in all black, as if they were going to try and infiltrate some secret facility, but they also looked a bit distressed. Rose smiled awkwardly and was about to wave her hand to say hello, but was cut short when Solider and the lady took on defensive stances.

"We are surrounded!" the lady said, in a Russian voice. Rose's smile disappeared. ' _Yeah, that's Heavy's sister_ _all right_ _. But this might not turn out well..._ ' she thought to herself.

"Spy, you idiot! IT'S A TRAP!" Soldier shouted. Rose looked around quickly to see all the soldiers were just as puzzled as she was. Suddenly, Soldier dashed over to the nearest man and grabbed his head with both his hands. "HUTTAH!" he shouted.

"Oh no..." Rose sighed.

Then female hands came over Soldiers and Heavy's sister was behind him, "Huttah..." she said sensually.

Rose didn't know whether to laugh or gag or what but she knew what was coming next. The two then gleefully, and forcefully, twisted the man's head with such gusto that there was a loud crack. Rose jumped slightly at the suddenness of it, Spy rushed over to the two and shoved them apart.

"Guys! That was completely unnecessary!" Rose shouted at the pair. "They literally can't fight back!"

"Nonsense!" Soldier shouted back, "We are completely surrounded by the enemy!"

"Zhese men aren't zhe enemy!" Spy shouted. He quickly composed himself and turned to another soldier. "You. Give me your submarine."

The man looked at him, then shrugged, "Yeah, sure, mate," he said complacently.

Rose walked over to the group, and Soldier leaned over to Spy. "So we snapped that man's neck for nothing," he stated.

"Yes, yes you did..." Rose sighed.

"Oh..." Soldier said. "Maybe we should snap one more neck just to be -"

"No," Spy said.

Rose walked up to Spy and he handed her the keys so she could go get the submarine started up. She didn't get too far when Soldier's girlfriend shouted, "I will not believe this! Australians are the strongest fighters in the world!" She pointed towards a slinky man with a mustache, "You! Fight me!"

The man gave a stern nod, and began to wail on her arm. Rose watched as the man had absolutely no effect on her as he began to sweat. "Wow. What happened?" she murmured.

"Maybe that Australium has properties we didn't consider," Wheatley answered.

"That raises some concerns..." Rose whispered.

"These men are not Australians!" Soldier shouted, "They are cupcakes!"

"No, these are Australians," Spy spoke up, lighting up a cigarette. "They were robbed of all their power."

"Oh yeah," Rose chimed. "They told us they were robbed of all of their Australium, about three months ago. Apparently whoever did it was in and out."

"S'all true, mate," the man whose neck was snapped sat up and began to talk. "Every last bit of it gone. We're as weak as kittens."

"Wait! How the hell are you okay from that?!" Rose looked at the man wide-eyed. "You're neck was almost snapped in two!"

"Rose, since when does anything make sense around these fellas?" Wheatley asked.

Rose blinked, everyone looking at her with a little less confusion she had on her own face, then took a moment to recompose herself. "No, no. You're right…I just...wasn't expecting that."

The man turned back to Soldier. "Um, d'ya mind, mate?" he asked as he pointed to his neck.

Soldier brought his hand up to his face and sighed. "This is all so sad...it goes against everything I stand for, but-" Soldier stood the man up and twisted his neck back into place. Rose winced at the cracking noise coming from the man's neck, and started to back up to the submarine to get it started.

"That should literally not be medically possible," she sighed.

"Don't think about it, Rose. Just...let it go..." Wheatley reassured her.

Rose noticed that Soldier's girlfriend leaning over the railway to the submarine, the little man still trying his hardest to do harm, but not having any visual effect. Rose decided to walk up and introduce herself.

"Hey there," she said with a little wave. The woman turned around and gave Rose a suspicious look. Rose paused, "What? I'm just saying hi." The older man gave a few more punches and then stopped, slightly exhausted from the workout.

"Soldier has told me about you," she stated, a bit colder than Rose would have liked.

"Oh?" Rose looked around her to see how the man was holding up and saw him walk away with his head hanging low.

She walked right to Rose and eyed her and Rose snapped back to the current conversation; she was about a few inches taller than her, with long black hair. Rose noticed a bit of jealousy in her dark brown eyes aimed directly at her. After a moment of silence, she spoke up.

"He is mine," she said curtly.

Rose was caught off guard for a second. "Um...what now?"

"He is my Soldier. Not yours," she repeated. "If you look at him with any lustful looks in your eyes, I will break you."

Rose cringed a slight bit at the thought; not that Soldier didn't have his own charm, but he was certainly not something she wanted in a man. After a minute of thinking, Rose's eyes narrowed to the woman, and a sly smirk came across her face.

"Fair enough," she started. "But he's part of _my_ team. You break his heart -" Rose leaned in and whispered, "- and I'll rip yours out for a pet experiment of mine." Rose's mind shifted to the time she was in the ally-way with Medic, but quickly pushed the thoughts down and tried to remain intimidating.

The woman had a bit of surprise cross her face, but then hid it away and continued to stare Rose down as best she could. After a moment of intense staring, the two women let out a laugh.

"Ahahaha! I like you!" she stated, and patted Rose on the back. "And your name is Rose, yes?"

"Heheh, yeah," Rose said.

"I am Zhanna. I am one of Misha's sisters, uh, the one you call Heavy," she said, a proud smile now resting on her face.

"Well it's nice to finally meet you!" Rose said.

"Agreed!" Wheatley came up and gave a slight bow.

"Ooooh, where did you come from little blue man?" Zhanna said with amazement as she started to poke at the hologram.

"My name is Wheatley and I am – S-stop, please," as he shooed her hand away. Zhanna shrank her hand back as requested.

"Hey be nice, she's just curious," Rose snapped a bit.

"I know, that was just a bit...awkward," he said. "Sorry 'bout that. Anyways, I am Rose's personal AI." Zhanna tilted her head with a bit of confusion on her face. "Um….artificial intelligence?" She still had a blank expression, and Wheatley gave a sigh. "Ugh...I'm a computer that lives inside her head."

"Oooooh..." it finally clicked in Zhanna's eyes. Then she looked at Rose, "Why?"

Wheatley shook his head and Rose gave a playful smirk. "Let's just say it was an idea I wanted to try a while back," Rose explained.

Zhanna gave a shrug, "Eh, to each their own."

"Heh, right...well, we should probably get the submarine ready for transport. Everyone else should be on the way," Rose said, changing the subject.

"Hmph," Zhanna sneered.

"What's wrong?"

"Hm...nothing, Zhanna is feeling….unsettled about this," she nodded to the submarine.

Rose looked over to the submarine and frowned, getting the same uneasy feeling as her new friend. But then she brought a smile on her face and pushed the uneasiness down like most things and looked up at Zhanna.

"Don't worry about it!" she beamed, "If there's one thing I realized about these guys is that together these guys could probably beat the crap outta death itself."

"All things considered, I wouldn't put it past them," Wheatley agreed.

Zhanna gave them a smile back before Spy came up to them and cleared his throat, "Ahem. Sorry to break up zhis little ice breaker, but..." he motioned towards the sub.

"Oh, haha, yeah," Rose rubbed the back of her head. "I'll get it started."

* * *

"Y'know it's a good thing Heavy and Scout didn't come after all..." Rose said as she was leaning up against the back of the main cockpit.

"Yeah, Miss Pauling made a good call with that one, sending them off to find another cache of Australium," Wheatley agreed.

"Yeah…" Rose was still unsure as to what the end goal here was, but she was more concerned about getting the team back together at this point.

She was pretty happy to see Sniper, but less excited to hear that he had planned to kill Pauling and Demo. It then occurred to her that being a mercenary means being able to cover your tracks in case something goes south. Bit of a twist to learn that the parents he thought were his birth parents weren't actually his birth parents and that they were on their way to go see them. Or at least that's what she gathered when Pauling told them where they were heading to. Rose leaned in a bit passed Sniper and Spy to hear what Pauling was talking to Soldier about, but then she heard Zhanna speak up.

"You want to know more about Zhanna?" she said to Miss Pauling, who was apparently talking to Soldier. "Here is story about Zhanna. Once upon a time, I do not like you. The end."

Rose let out a little snicker, and Sniper and Spy smirked. "You said she couldn't understand a word we were saying!" Pauling said to Soldier.

"Yes. I meant that I couldn't understand a word you were saying," Soldier said, completely calm about everything while Zhanna continued to give Pauling the stink-eye.

Pauling shook her head and focused on another topic. Rose leaned back in her spot at let the assistant go on, "Do you guys know anything about New Zealand?" Miss Pauling asked, focusing her attention back to navigating the submarine.

"I'm fairly certain that you are about to tell us about it at length," Spy said, then taking a huff from his cigarette. Rose smirked at the comment but then silently scolding the merc for smoking in a floating coffin leagues beneath the oceans surface.

"A lot of people confuse it with Australia," Pauling continued, ignoring Spy's comment. "But New Zealand was really the opposite. It was a land filled with artists, intellectuals and scientists and all they wanted was to be left alone. Forty years ago, they got their wish."

Rose listened intently as Pauling explained. She had heard rumors about New Zealand but she never got to into finding out what happened exactly. Never had a reason to. Pauling went on, "They built a giant glass dome over the country and sunk it down to the bottom of the ocean, and they lived down here for years. It must have been a utopia, a paradise under the sea, but something happened," Pauling said.

They came over a small reef and suddenly were greeted by a large glass dome. Rose's eyes widened at the marvel. All she could do was gape at the sight; and entire country, underneath the oceans surface all these years. They continued to the dome, where Pauling found a hole in the ceiling of the glass, and Rose's mind began to race with questions but before she could ask any of them, Sniper came up next to Pauling.

"That's where my real parents are? The lost bloody land of New Zealand," he asked, his voice a bit agitated.

"According to the Administrator, yes," Miss Pauling stated.

Rose paused; how – how did the Administrator know about this? And if Sniper was really from New Zealand, how in the world did he end up in Australia? Rose leaned back against the door of the cockpit and tried to piece together pieces as she let the other continue.

"Along with the last cache of Australium. Look alive everybody, where here," Miss Pauling said.

Rose looked up and saw them approach a huge door that as soon as they neared it, the door slowly opened, making a low humming sound. "Rose? You okay?" she heard Wheatley whisper.

"Huh? Oh – yeah, I'm fine. Just, a lot of information to take in," she whispered back. "Wheatley, keep your guard up, okay? I have no idea what to expect down here."

"You got it. I would advise keeping your blades on you as well. You never know if you might need them," the AI cautioned.

Rose gave a nod. The submarine surfaced in a small port that looked relatively safe, but Rose couldn't help but put her hand on the hilt of her sword. She left her pistol in its holster back on the submarine just in case they came across anyone that wasn't dangerous and she didn't want to over do it. The group made their way out of the submarine, Sniper went out.

"Sniper hold up," Rose said, "We don't know-"

"So help me God," he said, ignoring Rose's warning, "If you and that old devil are makin' this up, I'll...I'll..."

Everyone froze in their tracks and Sniper took off his aviator sunglasses. "Dad?"

Before them stood a man who looked incredibly aged, with a long gray beard, and was wearing a bluish-green robe. "Welcome to New Zealand, son," he greeted. "Welcome home."

* * *

"...And thanks to your father, everyone in New Zealand drowned, and we've been stuck in this sealed lab ever since," Sniper's mom slurred with a cup of wine in her hand.

"Where your mother has been trying do drown herself, one bottle of wine at a time," the father groaned.

"Bill-bell, when this wine runs out, I'm going to shoot you and then kill myself," she remarked.

"You know what would be great, Lar-nah? To get through one day without you proposing a murder-suicide," he moaned again.

Rose looked at Miss Pauling who just shrugged. "Well aren't they the picture of a perfect couple," Wheatley said.

"Heh, right? I mean who just gets ready to abandon their child? And did it not occur to him to build a way out?" Rose snickered. "And why in the world would anyone just sink an entire continent to the bottom of the ocean?"

"Guys, shush," Pauling scolded.

"Hey I'm just saying. The thing that bugs me most is how much they don't really care about their kid," Rose said.

Pauling shook her head and focused her attention back to Sniper back to his birth parents.

"It...it all makes so much sense," Sniper said. "Why I never grew a mustache or Australia-shaped chest hair...or why I never wanted to get into fist-fights with the other kids. I'd just hide in the tree and throw rocks at them..."

"I'm pretty sure that's not how hair growth works," Wheatley sneered.

"Okay turn down the flames, man," Rose said. Wheatley quieted down and let Sniper finish his sudden realization. She herself was kind of blown away about the recent news.

"It's because I'm not...actually..." Sniper began to stutter.

Before he could his sentence, Miss Pauling slipped in front of him to ask her own set of questions, "Um, hi. If I could butt in for just a second here..." she said. "Did either of you notice a big pile of yellow rocks around here? They're, um, worthless pretty much. But my employer has a crazy fondness -"

"Haha! My good woman, I'm a scientist! You can't fool me. I know the true value of that metal," Sniper's dad gloated.

"Smooth Pauling," Rose snickered. Pauling shot a sour look back at her and Rose let out a small giggle as she shrunk back from the cold stare, and Miss Pauling turned back to the conversation.

"Dang...I forgot you were a scientist. So you probably already figured out it works as a nuclear super fuel," she stated.

"Um….Pauling I think you giving him a bit too much -" Rose began to warn.

"Which means you also together that it can hyper-extend the human lifespan," the assistant finished.

Rose gave out a sigh and Sniper's dad sat there with a blank look. Bill-bell sat there with that stare for a moment or two before he let his incompetence show a bit.

"You had no idea that material could do all of that did you?" Rose asked.

"Of course I did! That's exactly what I- "

"He had no idea," his wife blatantly stated. "You wanna see the genius did with it?"

Miss Pauling looked at Rose with a worried look, but all Rose could do was give a shrug and followed Sniper's drunken mom to where the rest of the Australium was. They went through a short, dimly-lit hallway that opened up to a rather large room with parts and scraps scattered all over the place. What suddenly caught everyone's attention was the large gold-like rocket ship at the back of the room.

"Whoa….that's probably not a good thing..." Rose said.

"How would they even get it out of here?" Wheatley asked.

Miss Pauling walked up closer to it, her face showing nothing but anxiety and horror. "You...you used it to paint you spaceship!?" she said in disbelief.

The old man scoffed, "Hardly. This presents only a fraction of the Australium."

"Oh thank God..." the assistant sighed.

"I used most of it to paint the prototype spaceships."

"Where -"

"They exploded."

Miss Pauling began to have a mental break down as Rose couldn't decide to laugh or panic at the situation. _Well at least it won't be going to the Administrator,_ Rose thought to herself. She looked at Miss Pauling who turned pale white with the clearest look of disbelief on her face.

"You….you….you…." Pauling stuttered. Lar-nah walked over and handed her a cup full of what Rose could only assume was wine.

"Here, this helps," she said, then the two chugged down their cups.

Rose walked up to Sniper's dad, "So why did you bother painting prototypes when they had the possibility of exploding?" she asked.

He looked at her with a confused expression. "Well at the time I that I built them, I figured that they would work. It wasn't until after they, um, exploded that I classified them as prototype spaceships," he explained.

Rose gave another sigh, "That's not how -" she stopped herself. "Okay, and you thought that it was just some paint material? It didn't come across your mind that maybe, oh I don't know, that that strange metallic material could be researched for other purposes?"

"Mmm, no not really," he said, stroking his long gray beard. "But in hindsight, I probably should have done so."

"Yeah. Yeah maybe," Rose sighed as Spy walked up beside her to get a closer look at all of the ridiculousness occurring. Bill-bell then turned to his son, figuring the current conversation was at its end as a thought came into his mind.

"Hold on, I just realized...son, how did you get back from space?" he asked.

 _Christ…_ Rose thought to herself as she pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. Spy leaned over and handed her an unlit cigarette to help lift some of the anxiety, but she politely waved it away. Spy shrugged in understanding.

"I never made it to space, dad," Sniper said. "I crash landed on Earth."

"But...how did you survive? The Earth was covered in magma years ago! I calculated it!" Bill-bell said.

Spy gave a slight chuckle, "Dad, there is no magma! The world's fine!" Sniper said.

"We have something called America now!" Soldier butted in with a confirming tone.

"Yeah, there's even lions and tigers and bears," Rose said.

"Oh my!" Bill-bell said.

"So...the Earth hasn't been destroyed. And our spaceship is covered in a priceless metal..." Sniper's mom slowly pointed out. Rose began to have a bad feeling rise up in her gut, and she slowly started to make her way towards Miss Pauling.

"Lar-nah! That's all just conjecture!" Bill-bell stated.

"Pauling..." Rose whispered to the assistant.

"N-not now, Rose….I'm...not dealing with all of this well, right now..." Miss Pauling slurred.

"What's important right now is that our star-child has returned to us! From the furthest reaches of space!" Bill-bell went on. He turned to Sniper, "Son, I want you to listen to me. There's something I've been waiting to ask you for a long time." He leaned in close to whisper to his son, "Do you...have any money?"

Sniper grunted as he pulled out his wallet. Rose turned her attention back to Miss Pauling shaking her head. "Pauling, I have a bad feeling about this. I think we need to leave...like, now."

"I agree," Spy said in a hushed tone. He puffed out some smoke from his cigarette. "I never liked Sniper zhat much to begin with, but his 'parents' are even worse."

"I couldn't agree more. His dad isn't really all that bright, and his mom is an unstable mess," Rose pointed out. She looked at Bill-bell then toward Lar-nah, but something was wrong. "Wait….where is mother dearest?"

Without warning, there was a giant gust of air, heat and smoke as the giant rocket shot through the roof of the room and shot straight through the dome of the country. Water from the ocean began gushing through the holes the rocket caused.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Rose shouted.

"MOM!" Sniper yelled after.

"No, no, NO!" Pauling began to panic even more. "Your mother just stole the last bit of Australium on Earth! Unless..."

"Pauling we need to leave! NOW!" Rose shouted.

"We only have a matter of minutes before this whole area is flooded and we drown! Just sayin', I kinda enjoy the thought of living!" Wheatley stated.

Miss Pauling rushed over to a nearby terminal and began to frantically type. At first Rose was confused as to what she was doing then realized that the last ship to leave crash landed back on Earth.

"Pauling, I don't think-" Rose started but before she could finish, the trajectory on the screen showed that the spaceship had successfully exited the atmosphere. "Oh man..."

Spy rushed up to the two women and grabbed them, trying to get them to move as more ocean water poured into the room. "It's gone," Pauling said. "The one thing she sent us to get...the Administrator is gonna kill me."

"Who cares right now!?" Rose snapped. "If we don't get out of here now, she won't have anyone to kill anyways!"

"She's right! We need to move, NOW," Spy agreed as they began to make their way out of the room.

"GUYS GET TO THE SUB!" the assistant shouted.

"Wait! Where's my dad?" Sniper said, looking around frantically as they made their way out of the room with the giant hole in the ceiling.

Rose turned to him looking around as well, "He – he must be back at the lab," she guessed. "Sniper, man, you can't go back to look! You could die!"

"It don't matter!" Sniper said with some sort of heroic confidence. "He's my dad. If I'm not back in-"

"Hey, there he is!" Soldier stated, and pointed at the submarine. "Over there, by our submarine. Now he's in our submarine."

"Oh no….no, no, NO YOU DON'T YOU OLD BASTARD!" Rose shouted as her mind made the connection as she tried to hurry to the submarine.

She was too late, however, as Sniper's dad started up the sub and the large vessel began to dive. The whole thing was basically through the doors they came through earlier and they began to close behind him. Everyone stared in disbelief as they processed what had just happened.

"THAT OLD DUMB BASTARD LEFT US HERE TO DIE!" Rose shouted, completely enraged. "All of our weapons were in there! UUUURRRRGGGGHHH!"

"Rose! Calm down!" Wheatley tried to convince her.

Sniper ran up next to her as she was trying gain control of herself, "Sniper, I swear, I know he's your dad and everything, but if I ever see him again I cannot condone what I will do to him!" Rose snapped.

"He was just tryin' to escape like the rest of us!" he shouted back at her.

"Yeah? AND STEALING OUR ONLY WAY OUT TO DO IT?" Rose began to become enraged again.

Before Sniper could retort, the doors began to open up again.

"Aha! See I knew he would come back!" Sniper said.

"Rose...back up...now!" Wheatley warned.

She was going to question why but then she saw a larger vessel come up to the surface. As she backed away, a larger submarine resurfaced.

Sniper and Rose looked up with the others in confusion when two shots of a gun fired directly at Sniper tearing through the left side of his chest, right through his heart.

Rose's world slowed down for a moment, as she instinctively dove to catch her shot teammate. She was able to catch him just in time before he fell in the water, and Demoman came to help hold him up. Rose looked up at who fired, getting ready to un-holster one of her swords, but then froze completely. There were eight older men standing at the top of the submarine one on the very top of the sub with what looked like a sniper rifle in hand. Her anger grew even more as she looked at the rest, all of them with almost smug looks on her face, but then her eyes landed on their ninth member: Medic.

"Wheatley..." she murmured.

"I know, but don't do anything brash. We are seriously outgunned," the AI recommended. "There's...there's nothing we can do right now..."

Rose gritted her teeth, as she glared at her old friend and teammate. Medic gave a somewhat sinister smile as he looked down at all of his old teammates until his eyes landed on Rose, and that smile quickly diminished as he looked down to avoid her glare.

The man standing next to him straightened up a bit more; he was wearing some sort of protective goggles on his eyes as well as a blue bandana wrapped around his head. Rose noted that his hair was graying so he was a bit older than most of the mercenaries she knew. He also wore a blue sleeveless shirt with what looked like a ballistic vest.

"I hope the rest of you rejects don't die that easy," he stated. His voice was low and harsh, but commanding in a way. Rose's anger didn't falter. She gritted her teeth as he continued. "'Cause we got some questions that need answers...so...who wants to go first?"

Rose continued to hold on to a bleeding Sniper, and she looked down at his wounds. Then she realized something; this might a situation she or her teammates can get out of this time.

 **A/N: Hey guys! SUPER SORRY about the reeeeally long update. It's been a mixture of life getting in the way and me waiting for the last TF2 comic to come out, but I will still be updating this story until then! I've also got some other stories in the works and maybe possibly a sequel to this story (kinda sorta, not sure right now lol). ANYWAYS! Thanks for taking time to read this and all of your guys' support! Leave a review if ya want and thanks again!**


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